Proteas boosted by ‘inspirational’ Boks in quest for World Cup crown

Captain Temba Bavuma says the national men’s cricket team are taking motivation from other SA sides, including the Springboks and the Proteas women, as they target their maiden World Cup title.

The Proteas women reached the T20 World Cup final in Cape Town earlier this year, and the Springboks went on to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the fourth time in Paris on Saturday night.

Well placed in the first-round standings, after picking up five wins from six games, the Proteas men also looked set to progress to the playoffs in India, and Bavuma said they had been given a boost by their compatriots.

The Boks, in particular, were inspirational after fighting to the end to win each of their playoff matches by just one point.

“I think that’s something, as a Proteas team, that we can really take on board and make a part of our DNA,” Bavuma said,

“I think all the momentum within our sport was also started by the women in the start of the year, them getting into the final.

“There has been a bit of pressure for us as the Proteas to keep the momentum going. I think we’re doing well so far, but yeah, we’ll take the inspiration and motivation from all those performances from our other national teams.”

Targeting semi-finals

South Africa were top of the table in the round-robin stage, following a thrilling one-wicket win over Pakistan in Chennai at the weekend.

Hosts India were looking to return to the summit of the log  with a victory over defending champions England on Sunday, but the Proteas were two points ahead of fellow title contenders New Zealand and Australia (in third and fourth) and six points ahead of Sri Lanka in fifth place.

Despite producing some dominant performances during the tournament, Bavuma felt their best cricket was still ahead of them.

With three matches to play before the semi-finals, they were gearing up to face New Zealand next, in Pune on Wednesday.

“There’s improvements that we’re making. We haven’t played our best game of cricket yet,” the skipper said.

“I think that’s a good sign really for a team that finds themselves close to the top of the log.”