ICC World Cup 2023: SA eye momentum!

South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma during a practice session at the Wankhade Stadium yesterday. Pic/AFP

After a dominating win over defending champions England on Saturday, South Africa aim to carry the momentum and confidence against Bangladesh in their league encounter at the same Wankhede Stadium today.

Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma, who missed the game against England due to illness, was amongst nine SA players who opted to practise on the eve of the game. Bavuma did not bat in the nets, but was seen taking throw downs from the team's batting coach JP Duminy and some special tips on playing back foot strokes.

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SA enjoy best net run-rate

After three wins from four games, SA are enjoying the best net run-rate of 2.212 amongst all 10 teams. But, with just a solitary win from four matches, Bangladesh are struggling at sixth place in the points table.

Aiden Markram at Wankhede Stadium. Pic/Atul Kamble

However, SA interim skipper Aiden Markram, who led the challenge quite successfully against England, made it clear that they will not take Bangladesh lightly. "We haven't done particularly well against them [Bangladesh] in the past, so that's extra motivation for us to come out and replicate what was a good performance against England," Markram said during the pre-match press conference on Monday.

Markram also admitted that it's crucial for his team to play smart cricket to overcome the Bangladeshi challenge. He remarked: "They [Bangladesh] are a fantastic team. If you don't rock up on the day and if your skills let you down against a team like Bangladesh, you will be put under a lot of pressure. So that's probably where we've got it wrong in the past. Naturally, they bring a great attack that is well-rounded now. And it's up to us to rock up here tomorrow [Tuesday], understanding what we need to do to get a good result."

Motivation from rugby team

Meanwhile, SA, who are yet to win a single ICC World Cup, will be trying to get some more motivation from their three-time world champion rugby team, who will be playing the rugby World Cup final against New Zealand on Saturday. "We're following rugby as much as everyone else, to be honest. So, it could be a distraction for us, a good distraction as well. We're making all the time available to watch their games. They're doing some special things once again as a team. It inspires us as a team. 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]," Markram added.