Proteas captain, Temba Bavuma, wants his team to do more and give more in order to win their “quarterfinal” clash against England in Sharjah on Saturday, 06 November.

The Proteas take on England in what will be the last Super 12 fixture for both teams and the Proteas are the team in desperate need of a win to qualify for the next stage of the World Cup – the semifinals. England are through, having won all four matches and they currently hold the top spot in Group 1.

The Proteas, on the other hand, have lost one game in four matches and are tied on points with Australia who also mirror the same returns in this World Cup as South Africa. Australia are second in the group standings with a 0.29 difference on Net Run Rate with South Africa.

“First of all, in the context of the event that we’re at, tomorrow is obviously a big game,” Bavuma told members of the media on Friday in a pre-match press conference.

“Some have even called it as almost our quarterfinal. So I think from that point of view and looking at our expectations as a team coming to this event, we want to play our best cricket tomorrow.”

“We obviously understand with Australia I think who are currently No. 2 in our group, with their superior run rate, there’s not much I guess we can do from that point of view. I think the first point when we go out would be to win the game,” he added.

South Africa’s strength at the moment lies in fighting for a win together as a unit, not relying on individuals to perform in order to win games instead they rely on each player coming to the party to help the team win games of cricket.

Bavuma reiterated that they will be looking to continue fighting as a team and playing for each other in their clash against England.

“I think every game we only speak about going out and fighting it out as a team. We don’t leave it to individuals. We don’t rely on individual brilliance to bring it home for the team, but it’s all about us as a team giving everything that we have.”

“Tomorrow it won’t be any different. We’ll still be showing the same character, the same fight that we’ve shown while in this tournament.”

England have played one match in Sharjah, against Sri Lanka, and it was the only game in which there were any visible weaknesses in their game, and that weakness was particularly against the spinners. Jason Roy and Jos butler made it a point to see off the spinners, taking no risks, while being attacking against the seamers.

The Proteas have Bjorn Fortuin as a third spin option at their disposal and his inclusion in the playing eleven tomorrow will be a consideration that Bavuma and Boucher will look at very seriously.

“I think that’s something that’s always in consideration. I think that decision though we’ll only really be able to make while we’re there in Sharjah. Like I said, even though Sharjah has played the way that it’s played, it is traditionally known to be a good batting wicket, so we’ll have to make that decision once we at least see the wicket tomorrow,” said Bavuma.

England are a very strong side and their record over the past few years in white-ball cricket speaks volumes. If the Proteas will stand a chance to win this game, against such a powerful and smart team, they will have to do a lot more than what they gave done in the tournament so far.

Skipper, Bavuma, agrees that they will have to fight a little bit more in order to win tomorrow.

“I think tomorrow we need to just find a way to add an extra five percent in all our departments. Like I said, coming up against England, we’re going to have to be at our best. It’ll just be us trying to find a way to up in every department.

“I think the bowling has been really good. The fielding, as well, has been really good. The batting, as well. But let’s just find a way to just improve in every department of our game,” he concluded.

South Africa vs England at 16:00 SAST, Sharjah Cricket Stadium.