On Tuesday, October 18, in Dharamsala, the Netherlands punched above their weight to deliver the decisive blow to South Africa in the ODI World Cup 2023.
In a match with 43 overs each side that was postponed due to weather, the Dutch team rallied from 82/5 and 140/7 to 245/8. In response, the Proteas fought valiantly but were eventually bowled for 207, falling short by 38 runs. Temba Bavuma, the captain of South Africa, admitted after the game that this loss would hurt after steering his team to two straight victories to start the tournament. He added that his squad shouldn’t let this defeat go by.
You must let the feeling to sort of creep in. Don’t assume that trying to forget what happened will do anything. It should hurt, and it will hurt. But when you return the following day, you awaken, and we resume our adventure. By any means, our campaign is not done, but you must feel the emotion of today and return the next day with your head held high, Bavuma stated during the post-game presentation.
What you can control are the extras: Tavuma Temba
Bavuma said that the South African team should be regulated moving forward in the ODI World Cup after bowling an excessive number of extras (a total of 31), which was out of character for them. It is tough to relate them with the fact that they performed poorly on the field as well.
“You have some influence over the frills. Getting 30 (31) extras, or an additional five overs, will never be beneficial to you. Whether it is a matter of competence or complacency, we should discuss it because in the end, it did matter quite a bit. Although we were effective against Australia, the challenge was always to repeat that performance. The fielding fell short of expectations.
Again, if you compare how we fielded against Australia to how we field today, it is clear that the standards have changed. We must have such chats. The inquiries on the boys’ mental states have to be answered by them. From a fielding perspective, that’s obviously not the standard we want to set, the right-handed hitter continued.
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