Proteas one for all and all for one spirit

If you’re going to get into a T20 World Cup cricket semifinal for the first time in a decade, then do it in style by eclipsing some of the biggest hitters in the game.

And that’s what the Proteas did in the early hours of yesterday morning, our time, when they clinched a nail-biting victory over the West Indies in Antigua.

Although it was a rain-interrupted encounter, the Proteas had five balls remaining when Marco Jansen smacked the winning six.

ALSO READ: Proteas beat West Indies to qualify for T20 World Cup playoffs

What was remarkable about the match was that, this time, the narrow win was against another tough opponent and followed a seven-run win against England.

Spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who took 3/27 in the Proteas attack and was named player of the match, had some interesting but encouraging things to say about the performance of his team-mates.

“If you look at the squad, there isn’t any individual you can pick and say this guy is responsible for making this team win,” Shamsi said.

ALSO READ: No pressure: Shamsi says Proteas are a team full of match winners

“There’s no pressure on any one individual. We have a lot of match-winners in the squad and on each day someone finds a way to pull the game towards the team.”

Long may the Proteas continue to be bigger than the sum of their parts.