Proteas captain Temba Bavuma asks for improved display in next World Cup match against West Indies

24 October 2021 - 12:21
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Proteas limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma says they must improve in their next World Cup match against the West Indies on Tuesday.
Proteas limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma says they must improve in their next World Cup match against the West Indies on Tuesday.
Image: eane/INPHO/Shutterstock

SA captain Temba Bavuma has said there is a lot they must improve on after their disappointing display with the bat in their five-wicket loss to Australia in the opening match of the ICC T20 World Cup on Saturday.

The Proteas were put in to bat by Aussie captain Aaron Finch after he won the toss and the top order collapsed spectacularly with the exception of Aiden Markram, who scored a fighting 40 off 36 as they reached an above average total of 118.

In reply, the Aussies reached 121/5 with two balls to spare to get their campaign off to a winning start, while the Proteas are already under pressure as they have to beat the West Indies on Tuesday.

The  match against the West Indies has taken a different dimension as they will be looking to bounce back from their awful batting performance where they were skittled out for just 55 runs by England, who beat them by six wickets.

“From a batting point of view, it was not according to plan and we have a got a lot there that we need to improve on,” said Bavuma as he reflected on their overall performance.

“118 runs is nothing much to take home, from a bowling perspective I think the bowlers did well but towards the end it did get a little bit frantic and that’s a talking point for us as a team.

“The fielding was good, barring one or two incidents, and going into the next game against the West Indies we are obviously looking to improve and add a couple of percentages in our batting, bowling and fielding.”

To put SA's poor performance into perspective: Markram and Rabada top-scored with respective scores of 40 and 19 and the rest of the batting line-up combined for 53 runs.

“118 was definitely not a par score, it’s a bit hard for me to say so because we really did not put a score of substance and it was not according to plan from a batting point of view. I think anywhere around 150 or 160 runs would have been competitive.”

Following the conclusion of the qualifiers last week, SA, Australia, England, West Indies have been joined by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the Super 12 stage and Bavuma says they bring a different dimension to Group 1.

“The inclusion of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, two subcontinent teams on subcontinent conditions, it does make the group tougher. The group was never an easy one but we know that every game we are going to have to come out with our best cricket.

“We will be preparing with them in mind and as best as we can, our next assignment is the West Indies and our focus will be there.”


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