South Africa captain Temba Bavuma admitted that his team ‘faltered again when it mattered the most as the Proteas crashed out of the T20 World Cup with a 13-run loss to the Netherlands at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
- Advertisement -
“Very disappointing. We really played well before this game. We knew it was a must-win game and again we faltered when it mattered. Hard one to swallow for the guys. We had the confidence and the belief to get to the knockouts,” said Bavuma after the match.
“You can pick out a lot of things when you lose that way. Firstly myself with the toss, winning the toss and bowling first. Wasn’t ideal to let them off to a start and let them score 158.
“With the bat we just got stuck similar to the Pakistan game. We lost wickets at crucial times. The wicket maybe got a bit hard, but they used the dimensions of the ground a lot better than we did. From all of us, just wasn’t good enough,” he added.
- Advertisement -
Meanwhile, Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards said he is lost for words but they have achieved their goal of qualifying for the next t20 World Cup directly.
“I am lost for words. It went so fast. This is going to take a bit of time to take it all in. We are used to these conditions in the Netherlands. We were confident around the 160 mark to defend this,” he said.
“Another great experience, another big upset from the Netherlands. The absolute goal for us after losing the first two games that we are still playing for a spot in the next World Cup. Two results go our way,” he added.
- Advertisement -
Colin Ackermann, who was adjudged player of the match for his unbeaten 26-ball 41, said the victory is the dedication shown by the batter for the past six months.
“It feels fantastic, really deserve this victory today, the boys have worked so hard for the last six months. That has been the theme of this World Cup. You got to earn the right to hit boundaries at the end. The surface was slower and we knew 160 was competitive, yeah it was a great performance,” he said.
