“It’s a bitter pill to swallow,” said Proteas Head Coach, Mark Boucher, after South Africa beat England by 10 runs in a virtual quarter-final in Sharjah, but were still knocked out of the tournament because of a lower net run-rate than Australia. 

According to Boucher, South Africa’s loss to Australia in the first game was the primary reason for the Proteas being knocked out of the tournament, despite winning against an in-form England outfit. “The first game was tight. We just didn’t bat well enough,” said Boucher. He continued, “We lost the toss. We batted first and we weren’t 100 percent sure what a good total was because we were the first game to go out there and be played. So we maybe looked at getting 160. Probably needed about 130, 140 to be competitive. We could have maybe done better there.”

While Boucher recognizes that there is plenty of scope for improvement for this team, he is pleased with the Proteas’ performances under pressure. “We by no means are a finished product. These games will stand us in very good stead because as I said, every game we played was under pressure. That’s one thing we probably haven’t done very well in the past is playing big games, pressure games, and we really did well in this particular competition.”

Boucher was also pleased with the degree of adaptability that the team showed in tough playing conditions. “We always go out with a plan to try and put pressure on bowling attacks. The conditions have been tough. We have not really got off to a start like that in quite some time in the World Cup, at least. We have always been losing wickets in the power play,” Boucher explained. 

“We got two guys (Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram)who managed to stay at the crease and get a good partnership which is something we always try to do. And we were able to bat ourselves into position where we could really put England in pressure on the back end and it paid off tonight. So I think the conditions were quite good for batting tonight. The dew had a bit of effect on it as well. The ball seemed to fly. There was a short boundary. Yeah, I think the guys batted really well tonight but obviously they try to set themselves up for that all the time.”

Boucher reserved special praise for Proteas captain, Temba Bavuma, given all the challenges he has had to confront through the tournament. “I think Temba needs a pat on the back as well. He’s been fantastic in the team environment and has really led from the front as well.”