“I’m just glad that we were able to get into the right frame of mind as a team and play the way we played,” said Proteas skipper, Temba Bavuma, after South Africa delivered a clinical performance to beat the West Indies by 8 wickets in a must-win encounter. 

South Africa had acknowledged that the batting had been a matter of concern, and worked towards rectifying the mistakes the batting group made in the first game against Australia.

“After the first game we knew that there were areas that we had to improve within our game, more particularly with the bat, and to go out there and be clinical with the bat, that’s, I guess, a good step in the right direction.”

Heaping praise on the bowlers who restricted the West Indies to 143/8 in 20 overs, Bavuma said, “Our bowlers have been fantastic over the last while, and again, they showed their skill and their class.” 

This win holds value for the team, particularly because of the sequence of events that took place earlier today that led to Quinton de Kock choosing to pull out of the game between South Africa and the West Indies. 

Bavuma explained the events the occurred prior to the game, “The instruction from the board came in the morning, this morning. A meeting was convened between a couple of members, and that’s where that message was passed on to us.”

He continued, “I think the trip was about an hour and a half to two hours. In that trip, I guess that’s where Quinton made his decision. We found out – I found out as the captain when we got to the changing room.” 

Calling it “one of the toughest days I’ve had to deal with as a captain, as a leader of the team,” Bavuma wants the team to focus on the tournament and ensure that they ride the momentum from the victory they have achieved today.

Meanwhile, if the team wants clarity from Quinton de Kock with respect to his decision to pull out of the game, they will use the time they have until the next game to have that conversation. “

We’ve got a couple of days until our next game, and I think – those days I think will be tough for the group, but I think guys will want to know in terms of his decision, they will use that time to find out.”