“Coming out of this series against a high-quality opposition, it will give a lot of confidence and clarity as to who the guys we’d like to move forward with,” said Proteas captain, Temba Bavuma, after South Africa won the five-match T20 series against the West Indies with a 3-2 margin.

Bavuma emphasized that elevating the fielding standards was a priority for South Africa. “We knew as fielders all of us that we had to lift our intensity, lift our ability. All those conversations, all that hard work has paid,” said Bavuma.

In this series, South African spinners, Tabraiz Shamsi and George Linde, were central to the team’s victories. “Just after the powerplay, that’s where I felt the spinners came into the game. A guy like Shamsi was amazing, controlling things in the middle. He was well-supported by a guy like George throughout the series.”

The South African team management aimed to try to give players the opportunity to perform different roles in the batting order. “Making sure that we’re giving ourselves the best opportunity to win the series. At the same time, we wanted to see certain guys in different roles and perform so that you can get a sense of how you can use guys at the World Cup. We’ve done that,” stated Bavuma.

Bavuma is most likely to be seen in the top three for the Proteas going into the World Cup. His goal is “solidifying that partnership between Quinton and myself.”