Follow UsWe have often seen many players, coaches, analysts, and countless other people treat these ICC knockout matches as “ just another game” but South Africa’s white-ball head coach Rob Walter isn't one of them. The Proteas are through to the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup and will be playing Afghanistan in Trinidad on June 26 (Wednesday).
South Africa are still unbeaten in this competition. This is their third appearance in the semis of the 20-over showpiece event, and Walter doesn’t want to “downplay the occasion.”
“This is an empty hall (pre-match conference room), which is a good sign, I think. Maybe there's not a lot of energy around the semi-final. No, I'm just joking. It's all good. It is what it is. It's not really about the press but about the occasion, isn't it?
“It's never just another game. I think that sort of rhetoric around the semi-finals is always untrue, or people trying to downplay the occasion. Certainly, we don't do that. It is a semifinal of a World Cup, and we appreciate that and we're looking forward to it,” said Walter.
“There's always an energy that you can feel that's tangible when it comes to a semi-final. There'll be a mixture of emotions which is with anxiety but excitement and I think anyone in any sport, if they get to this phase of a competition, feels that. It's just acknowledging that and accepting it and then just understanding what you'll do with that.”
South Africa have won seven games in a row but most of them have been close affairs. It took them 18.5 overs to chase down 103 against the Netherlands on a tough New York surface.
They won their next four games by margins of four runs, one run, 18 runs and seven runs respectively. In a must-win clash against the West Indies, Aiden Markram and his men emerged victorious by just three wickets.
“There's no doubt that there's a lot of teams who can compete with each other now in the T20 format. It's great for the game. The more competitive sides playing the game of cricket, the better. We're seeing Afghanistan in a T20 semifinal. It's awesome for the game of cricket. I love the way they play the game and the way they support it.
“The more teams we can have competing at the top level, the better for the game and it grows the game itself. And from the closeness point of view, we've managed to get over the line in quite a number of close games in the lead up to the semifinal, which for a team has been great for us. We've potentially missed out on a few of those moments in the past, and this time around, we managed to get over the line. So, we certainly take confidence out of that.”
It’s a very well-known fact that South Africa are yet to win an ICC title. They have a history of losing crunch encounters but Walter said his team is not carrying the burden of all those missed opportunities in the past. “Look, I said, the near misses in the past, they belong to the people who missed them.
“To be honest, this team is a different team. We own whatever is ours to own. And so, our nearest reflection point is this tournament where we've managed to get over the line. So that's what we think about. It's always great to dream.
“I think everyone in South Africa dreams of the time when a trophy gets lifted. No doubt that will happen. Whether it's going to be this week, that remains to be seen. We're just going to try and play the best game of cricket that we can. And we still haven't played our best game yet.”
Talking about the conditions on offer at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Walter said: “I suppose the most positive thing about our campaign is that we've kind of encountered it all, to be honest. We've played in very different conditions.
“We've played on pitches that have given us something different every time. And we've been able to respond to the conditions pretty well. So tomorrow will be just the same. I think if you arrive with a preconceived idea about how the pitch will play, then you've already decided. We'll make an assessment of what's in front of us and then play the best cricket accordingly.”
South African opener Reeza Hendricks is having a terrible World Cup, having scored just 80 runs across seven innings at an average of 11.42 and a strike rate of 80.80. Walter, however, isn’t too worried about his form. “Reeza's form doesn't bother me at all. He's a quality cricketer.
“It was just, what, three and a half weeks ago that he scored a magnificent 80 against the West Indies, a man-alone performance really. Over the last year and a half, he's been unbelievable, even beyond that in T20 cricket to be fair. He's a wonderful cricketer and good batsmen are just one shot away from contributing to the team.”
Lastly, talking about Afghanistan, Walter said: “You would have seen it all in the last two days. I think they are a well-rounded team. Gone are the days where there is an area of the team that is not strong. They wouldn't be in a semi-final if that was the case. You're talking about some world-class spinners. Everyone knows about the world-class spinners led by Rashid Khan.
“I mean, he's a top-class T20 spinner anywhere in the world. We know about that. But as I said, it's not a one-man show anymore. That's for sure. The opening pairing, statistically, have been outstanding in this tournament alone and so yeah, I mean they're a well-rounded side with great experience played some very good cricket in the last couple of games to actually make a semifinal so yeah, they're there for a reason.”
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