Skipper Rahul Dravid gave credit to his spinners for helping India bounce back with a six-wicket victory over South Africa in the second one-day international in Bangalore on Saturday.
He said the team had a game plan of giving spinners first use of the dry pitch if they won the toss at the Chinnaswamy stadium and the slow bowlers repaid the faith.
"The wicket was slow and it was turning a bit, our spinners bowled really well. The kind of pressure we created on them (South Africa) really paid off," Dravid said after the match.
Playing in front of his home crowd as captain for the first time, Dravid said his decision to field first revolved around the game plan involving the spinners, and the pitch and dew were factors in it.
"I had a long thought about it last night. When I visited the ground this morning, I just thought the pitch was quite dry, and wanted our spinners to bowl first with dry ball," he said.
"I knew that if we get 20 overs of spin bowling first, we could do better and maybe later on with dew coming, my spinners may not be able to spin the ball.
"I thought of giving the spinners a first chance, and they responded beautifully. Irfan's wickets upfront was fantastic for us. It set the tone for the whole game for us."
South African captain Graeme Smith rued that the toss played such a huge role but refused to make that an excuse for the team's defeat.
"Toss played a bigger role than expected," Smith said. "We lost a few wickets upfront and the wicket was very dry. The wicket was helpful for spinners, once we lost wickets upfront it was always going to be difficult.
"It is not an excuse. All credit to the Indians, they used the conditions well, fielded well and the spinners bowled well."
The defeat meant the end of South Africa's 20-match winning streak, falling one short of the record 21 wins by Australia.
"We are disappointed to get so close. The team has come a long way and we will pick ourselves up for the next match in Chennai," Smith said.
On the verbal exchange between fast bowler Andre Nel and host batsman Gautam Gambhir, Smith said, "It was not sledging."
"The body language was good, the fast bowlers bowled with aggression. Fielders also backed up with intensity and the team really means business. It is not sledging."
On countering Virender Sehwag, who returned to form with a match-winning knock of 77 not out, Smith said, "We have got good game plans for him. Hopefully, we will pull them off in Chennai."
