NEWS
Follow UsThe South African team confirmed their semi-final spot on June 24 after defeating the West Indies in a close game by three wickets.
Batting first, the Windies could score only 135/8 in Antigua, with Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran, two of their most in-form batters, getting out in the first seven balls of the innings.
However, the chase wasn’t straightforward for the Proteas, as they also lost both their openers by the second over. However, with crucial contributions from every batter from number three to seven (except David Miller) despite regular fall of wickets, Kagiso Rabada (5* off 3) and Marco Jansen (21* off 14) were able to take their team home in the rain-curtailed game.
This was yet another close game for South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024, and Tabraiz Shamsi, speaking to the media after the game, chose to look at the positive side.
“Yeah look, obviously most of the games have been a lot closer than we would have personally liked, but the amazing thing is that this new Proteas team always seems to get over the line,” Shami said.
“We've been put under huge pressure basically in every single game that we've played and the boys have managed to find a way to win no matter what the situation is, no matter how close the game is. So that's really pleasing for us as a unit, and it's sort of like in a funny way we're looking forward to it.”
A great moment in the game came for the Proteas when skipper Aiden Markram brought himself to bowl in the second over of the game. He had a favourable matchup as the left-handed Pooran was in front of him. However, to Markram’s credit, he got him caught by Marco Jansen, and the Windies found it hard to impart steady momentum to their batting innings.
Shamsi stressed that this is how different individuals have raised their hands in different games of the tournament, which has reduced pressure on certain players in the team.
“Yeah, I actually always think he [Markram] underbowls himself whenever he's captain,” Shamsi accepted.
“I think he's a lot better than a part-timer so it was nice as a captain he saw that there was something in it for him and he ran with it and he bowled all four overs. So that's the one thing that's nice about our unit, if you look at the squad, there isn't any individual that you can pick and say like, hey, this guy is responsible for making this team win.
There's no pressure on any one individual. We just have a lot of match-winners within the squad, and on each day, someone finds a way to pull the game towards the team.
So, I think that's what's making the guys play without any pressure because we all know we have the ability to win the games, but there's no pressure on any individual to actually do it; otherwise, we're in trouble. So yeah, it was really nice to see Aiden doing what he did today. When you see another spinner taking wickets, it also gives you confidence to know that when it's your turn, there'll be something in it for you.”
Shamsi, who has 41 wickets in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at an average of 18.2 and economy of 6.9, was spectacular in Antigua for the Proteas, as he got three wickets for just 27 runs. His knowledge of the conditions proved detrimental in the day.
“Yeah, look, fortunately, I've been able to play CPL for the last five or six years,” Shamsi said.
“And one thing with the West Indian boys, you don't have to guess what their intent is going to be. So, it sort of helps you formulate a plan or expect what you're going to be coming up against and then it's just about trying to utilize the different variations you have and when to bowl it to which batter.
So yeah, everything sort of goes into slow motion when you're out there in the middle you don't hear the crowd or anything - it's just about doing the job for the team in the moment.
At times the captain would ask me to strike or at times he just asked me to bowl a tight over - so just about trying to do that as best as I could.”
The Proteas will now play the second-ranked team from Group 1 in the semifinal.
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