Cape Town – Temba Bavuma believes that India are beatable in their backyard following the Proteas’ seven-wicket loss in the second T20 at Mohali on on Wednesday.

Bavuma, who made his T20 debut in that match, scored 49 off 43 balls – including 3 fours and a six.

The 29-year-old put on a crucial second-wicket partnership of 57 with skipper Quinton de Kock, but the Proteas could only manage 149/5 in their 20 overs.

Bavuma said that the Proteas were not outplayed despite India chasing down the target with an over to spare.

“I don’t think we were completely outplayed … there are a lot of positives that we can take from that game going forward,” Bavuma told reporters.

“It’s very hard to play a perfect 20 overs cricket. I think as much as they had a good two to three overs, myself and Quinton were still able to build that partnership and get us to a good position.

“From the 12th to 16th overs that’s where we lost the game and if we were able to keep up the intensity there we wouldn’t have ended on 150.”

READ | Proteas v India, 2nd T20: 5 talking points

Bavuma admitted that South Africa’s batting performance had let them down.

“They (India) are a formidable team but I don’t think they are an unbeatable side,” said Bavuma.

“Our batting is where we let ourselves down and a quality side like this is going to make us pay.”

The Proteas are trailing the series 1-0, with the final T20 match scheduled for Sunday in Bangalore (15:30 SA time).