CWC 2023 | Springboks Inspire Proteas
Proteas captain and Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter Temba Bavuma claims his team drew inspiration from the Rugby World Champion Springboks in their thrilling one-wicket victory over Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup on Friday evening.
The Proteas broke a long-standing stretch of World Cup defeats to Pakistan and overcame their wretched run of failed chases as they hauled in the 271-run victory target in Chennai.
Durban’s Super Giants captain Keshav Maharaj held his nerve during the tense final moments to hit the winning runs off Mohammad Nawaz with only last-man Tabraiz Shamsi as company.
Despite the Proteas being in India, and the European time zone very much against them, they have stayed up until almost 3am in the morning to watch the Springboks in their on-going Rugby World Cup campaign in France.
The Boks have been involved in some epic contests over the past couple of weekends, beating both hosts France and England in their respective Rugby World Cup quarterfinal and semifinal by just one point on both occasions.
Siya Kolisi’s team face arch-rivals New Zealand’s All Blacks in today’s Rugby World Cup final in Paris.
Bavuma, who is good friends with Kolisi, says his team drew inspiration from watching the Boks close out their tight encounters.
"I think speaking about more recently with the Boks, I think their performances have been inspiring," said Bavuma.
"Looking at the quarterfinal, how they went about it there. Looking at the semifinal as well where they kind of came out of nowhere and won it for the team.
"I think that was quite inspiring and motivating for us as players to see how guys never gave up."
Bavuma admitted that his team does feel the pressure of emulating the Springboks, but it is providing them with the motivation to keep doing well as they are now mathematically one victory away from qualifying for the semi-finals.
“There was a strong sense of desperation to really get the win. And I think that's something that we can really, as a Proteas team, we can really take on board and make that a part of our DNA, our makeup as a team,” he said.
“I think it's 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.”
Images courtesy ICC World Cup
Proteas captain and Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter Temba Bavuma claims his team drew inspiration from the Rugby World Champion Springboks in their thrilling one-wicket victory over Pakistan
Proteas captain and Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter Temba Bavuma claims his team drew inspiration from the Rugby World Champion Springboks in their thrilling one-wicket victory over Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup on Friday evening.
The Proteas broke a long-standing stretch of World Cup defeats to Pakistan and overcame their wretched run of failed chases as they hauled in the 271-run victory target in Chennai.
Durban’s Super Giants captain Keshav Maharaj held his nerve during the tense final moments to hit the winning runs off Mohammad Nawaz with only last-man Tabraiz Shamsi as company.
Despite the Proteas being in India, and the European time zone very much against them, they have stayed up until almost 3am in the morning to watch the Springboks in their on-going Rugby World Cup campaign in France.
The Boks have been involved in some epic contests over the past couple of weekends, beating both hosts France and England in their respective Rugby World Cup quarterfinal and semifinal by just one point on both occasions.
Siya Kolisi’s team face arch-rivals New Zealand’s All Blacks in today’s Rugby World Cup final in Paris.
Bavuma, who is good friends with Kolisi, says his team drew inspiration from watching the Boks close out their tight encounters.
"I think speaking about more recently with the Boks, I think their performances have been inspiring," said Bavuma.
"Looking at the quarterfinal, how they went about it there. Looking at the semifinal as well where they kind of came out of nowhere and won it for the team.
"I think that was quite inspiring and motivating for us as players to see how guys never gave up."
Bavuma admitted that his team does feel the pressure of emulating the Springboks, but it is providing them with the motivation to keep doing well as they are now mathematically one victory away from qualifying for the semi-finals.
“There was a strong sense of desperation to really get the win. And I think that's something that we can really, as a Proteas team, we can really take on board and make that a part of our DNA, our makeup as a team,” he said.
“I think it's 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.”
Images courtesy ICC World Cup
Proteas captain and Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter Temba Bavuma claims his team drew inspiration from the Rugby World Champion Springboks in their thrilling one-wicket victory over Pakistan
