We’ll celebrate a bit and then back to work: Temba Bavuma

A first-innings mammoth score involving explosive batting by their top 6 followed by a clinical bowling display, has been South Africa’s template for victory this World Cup. 

In a capacity crowd of 31,914 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Pune, the Proteas batters put on another massive score of 357-4 and then bowled out the Kiwis for just 167 runs, winning the game by a huge margin of 190 runs. 

South African skipper Temba Bavuma looked chuffed while speaking about his team’s batting performance in the post match presentation. He said,

“Clinical display I would say. We had a good partnership between de Kock and Rassie. Fairly happy clinical in terms of the execution by the bowlers. Quinny [Quinton de Kock] and I tried to assess the conditions. We pouched on the bad balls, was able to put a couple of them away. Quinny wasn't in his flow at the start, but stuck to the plan - go unscathed till the 30th over and then maximise with our big hitters.”

When asked about the bowling, Bavuma remarked, “We knew they were going to come hard at us, and we would get the opportunities. We did what we have been doing.”

That is exactly what happened as New Zealand were reduced to 90-5 in the 19th over itself chasing 350+. After that, it was a matter of when and not if for South Africa.

With this win, South Africa are now sitting pretty at the top of the table with 12 points. India also has 12 points in one less game; however, the NRR of the Proteas is in a different league (+2.290), and hence they got the top position after today’s game. This should be enough for them to reach the knockouts. When asked about it, Bavuma acknowledged that his team would celebrate but would be cautious of the challenges that are bound to come in the upcoming games. 

“Need to check with our (team) manager, but looks like this win does guarantee us a semi-final spot, so we'll celebrate a bit tomorrow and back to work day after.”