On losing the semi-final match at Eden Gardens, the South African Skipper Bavuma reacts to their defeat against Australia.
Bavuma reacts to their defeat against Australia
Australia won the semifinal match against South Africa in the World Cup 2023 edition in a dramatic way.
Winning the toss, de Kock and Bavuma opened the attack while Mitchell Starc opened the bowling attack. South Africa’s top order collapsed to 4/24 by the end of the 12th over.
Mitchell Starc dismissed three wickets 3/34 runs while Josh Hazlewood dismissed 2/12 and terrified the South African side. Klaasen helped the side with his 47 runs before being sent out by Travis Head.
David Miller took the stance and scored 101 runs which helped the side from getting folded below 200+ score. His presence pressured Australians and their captain decided to step in to take down the batter.
With the target of 213, Australia had a fresh start as Travis Head hammered 62 runs in 48 balls with nine fours and two sixes. David Warner was impressive with his 29 runs on 18 balls which included four sixes. Together, they increased the team score to 60 runs in 6.1 overs.
Steven Smith scored 30 runs while Marnus scored 18 runs and helped the side. With the dismissal of Josh Inglis for 28 runs by Gerald, he had two crucial wickets, but that didn’t stop Australia’s victory.
With Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins’ scores of 16 and 14 runs, Australia won the match with 3 wickets in hand. Travis Head was named as the player of the match.
While speaking on post-match interview, Bavuma said, “Cannot put it into words, first of all congratulations to Australia. Good luck to them in the final. They played really well today. Our character came through today. We showed a lot of resilience.
The way we started with the bat and the ball was the telling point, that’s where we lost the game. The conditions combined with the quality of their attack, they really put us under pressure.
You’re always going to struggle to put up a competitive total when you’re 24/4. We were gaining some momentum when Miller and Klaasen were out there but unfortunately he (Klaasen) couldn’t carry on a bit longer,” said Temba Bavuma.
“Miller’s innings was superb, really highlights the character of the entire team, it was extraordinary to do that in such a pressure situation and in a World Cup semi-final. They got 70-odd in the first 10 and that really allowed the rest of the guys to settle.”
“Markram and Maharaj were fantastic and they really put them under pressure. We had chances, tough chances that we put down, it could’ve been a bit close had we held on to them.”
As a young guy, he (Coetzee) really was the warrior for us, there wasn’t much happening for the seamers then but for him to come round the wicket and to take the wicket of Smith was incredible. He was cramping but he still wanted to keep bowling,” he said.
While speaking on de Kock’s retirement he suggested that, Quinton would’ve probably wanted to end his career on a different note, despite the result I think he’ll remember his time. He’ll go down as one of the legends in South African cricket,” he concluded.
The finals of the World Cup 2023 edition will be played on November 19 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
