South Africa coach Rob Walter on Thursday mentioned he was “proud” of Temba Bavuma regardless of the injured captain being unable to interrupt the nation’s World Cup jinx.
The Proteas went all the way down to Australia by three wickets in Thursday’s semi-final after a gallant effort to defend a modest 212 at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
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It was a fifth semi-final loss for South Africa so as to add to comparable disappointments in 1992, 1999, 2007 and 2015.
Five-time champions Australia marched into their eighth remaining the place they’ll sort out undefeated hosts India on Sunday.
Bavuma
Bavuma performed the match regardless of not being 100% match as a consequence of a hamstring harm and was out for a fourth-ball duck.
Bavuma, a gap batsman who missed two video games within the World Cup via sickness, managed simply 145 runs in eight matches with a highest rating of 35.
“I just told him how proud I am of him,” Walter mentioned of Bavuma.
“You know he marshalled the troops this night unbelievably nicely.
“He was the lead man that got us into this tournament in the first place, I think people forget that so I just wanted to make sure that he was aware of how important he is in this team and how proud I am of his efforts and the way he led throughout the tournament.”
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Bavuma has performed 38 ODIs for South Africa, scoring 1,512 runs at a median of over 45.
Walter defended the choice to play Bavuma regardless of not being totally recovered from the harm he picked in opposition to Afghanistan final Friday.
“If you looked at him in the field, if you didn’t know that he wasn’t 100%, you wouldn’t have guessed,” mentioned Walter.
“So, in terms of being 100%, I think he was pretty close, to be fair. He went through the entire week, he got better every day. And the only potential red flag might have been if something happened in the field.”
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‘Father figure’
South Africa fell to 24-4 in 11.5 overs after they elected to bat first however David Miller’s valiant 101 handed Australia a 213-run goal on a troublesome pitch.
“The first 12 overs of batting this afternoon was a serious challenge. And ultimately, I think that’s what separated the game really,” mentioned Walter.
Quinton de Kock, with 594 runs together with 4 centuries, remained the crew’s high batsman within the match and second solely to India’s Virat Kohli (711).
However, on Thursday, the 30-year-old De Kock was out for simply three on his final ODI for South Africa.
“Thank goodness I don’t have to be Quinny’s father figure anymore. That’s a bonus,” Walter joked.
Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee was a breakout star for South Africa with 20 wickets within the competitors together with two on Thursday.
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“Personally, I’m excited,” mentioned Walter as he surveyed his crew’s youthful gamers reminiscent of Coetzee and Marco Jansen.
“I think there’s a huge scope for us to grow as a team. I think there’s a huge scope for us to play even better than we have. And the majority of the people that are going to be on their journey are still in that changing room.”
© Agence France-Presse
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