After breaking
India‘s winning streak at
T20 World Cupswhich had stretched back 12 matches to their opening fixture of the 2024 tournament,
South Africa have proven the defending champions are “beatable”.
On a winning run of five matches at this tournament themselves, South Africa could consider having one foot in the semi-finals after winning their
first Super Eight match against the toughest opposition in their group. But they are not allowing themselves to get that far ahead. What they have learned so far is that even the team considered favorites can slip up, which means anyone can, and they have to stay focused as they get deeper in the competition.
“They are beatable,”
David MillerSouth Africa’s most experienced batsman and top-scorer on the night, said at the post-match press conference. “India come with an incredible team. For us, in a tournament like this, it’s about making sure that we do simple things [right] and get the job done. We’re a mature team. A lot of guys have played together and that goes a long way under pressure. It’s just staying in your lane, making sure that you get the job done and keep wanting more.”
The “more” that South Africa wants doesn’t need much explaining. Obviously, it’s a major white-ball trophy. It will be even more desirable a target after they fell short of winning it in
the last final. They have backed their recent quality up, albeit in a different format, by winning the
World Test Championship mace at Lord’s last year.
The mace win, against Australia, proved that they could come back from situations where they are all but out of the contest, and finish on top. The more they have won tense matches, the more they have begun to believe in white-ball cricket as well. The
double super over victory over Afghanistan was another example of this.
The tension of that win, compared with the ease with which they got past New Zealand, and now India, may make you think things are getting less pressured as the tournament goes on. Not so, said Miller. “It wasn’t easy. Playing against India is always really difficult. We’ve played a lot against them and with them as well, but beyond that – and when it’s two big teams like that – it’s about making sure that you do the simple things for a longer period of time. When the pressure does come, you kind of absorb it, get through that. It takes a team effort.”
While South Africa’s total of 187 in Ahmedabad was “fair”, as Miller put it, they were actually “pushing for 200” and fell short, but made up for it with their bowling. “Getting three wickets in the powerplay got us back phenomenally well, and we backed it up with good fielding. It was an all-round great performance. We put them under pressure and, yeah, it was good to get a win over this.”
He singled out
Lungi Ngidi‘s execution of the slower ball and
Keshav Maharaj‘s three wickets in an over, all caught by Tristan Stubbs at long-on, as game-changing.
“The guys executed really, really well. They changed up quite a lot with Lungi Ngidi coming in and bowling a lot of slow balls. In the lineup that was really dangerous, and that hit a lot of sixes and a lot of boundaries, it’s just accepting the fact that they’re really good and making sure that you kind of put that aside and come up with plans that might be different,” Miller said. “And Keshav Maharaj, he’s an experienced player, he’s bowled a lot of overs in his life in pressure situations. The guys bowled phenomenally well.”
South Africa’s next match is against West Indies on Thursday, at the same venue.
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