South African skipper AB de Villiers has backed his side's bowlers, describing their efforts as 'decent', following their 39-run loss by Duckworth and Lewis (D/L) method to England in the opening ODI at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein.
De Villiers said that the wicket was incredibly good to bat on, but added it was too hard for the bowlers, Sport24 reported.
He added that his bowlers had a tough time bowling the first 10 to 15 overs, but insisted that his side managed to bring the visitors down to nine.
The 31-year-old, who believes that losing a toss was a major reason for their defeat, however, admitted that his bowlers were a little bit slow to adapt with the lengths.
Earlier, openers Jason Roy (48) and Alex Hales (57) made a thunderous start to England's innings by notching up a brisk 68-run partnership for the opening wicket as the visitors posted 399-9 after opting to bat first.
In reply to the daunting target of 400 runs, South Africa were restricted to 250 with five wickets remaining in the rain-hit opening match, with opener Quinton de Kock scoring an unbeaten 138 and Faf du Plesis 55 for the hosts.
With the win, England have take 1-0 lead in the series and they will play their next match against South Africa at St. George's Park in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
