‘An extra bit of oomph’: Proteas inspired by Boks in World Cup hunt

Aiden Markram says South Africa’s cricketers are taking “inspiration” from the Springboks’ run to the Rugby World Cup final as they continue their own quest for global glory in India.

Just hours after the Proteas thrashed England by a mammoth 229 runs in a Cricket World Cup pool match in Mumbai on Saturday, their reigning rugby union world champion compatriots edged England 16-15 in a tense semi-final in Paris.

The Springboks will now face arch-rivals and fellow three-time world champions New Zealand in the final this Saturday.

The Proteas, meanwhile, will meet Bangladesh in their next round-robin match in the opening round of the cricket showpiece in Mumbai on Tuesday, as they target their maiden World Cup title.

‘Doing special things’

“We’re following the rugby as much as everyone else, to be honest,” said top-order batter Markram, who stood in as captain against England at the weekend.

“I suppose a lot of the hype is around them right now and rightly so. They’re doing some special things once again as a team.

“It inspires us. We try to take motivation and inspiration from them. And certainly, their performance to get into another final provided us with an extra bit of oomph as well going into tomorrow (Tuesday).”