Mark Boucher Said It’s A Bitter Pill To Swallow As Proteas Are Knocked Out Of Semi-Finals Spot Despite Winning 4 Games Out Of 5

Nov 7, 2021 at 1:30 PM

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Mark Boucher Said It’s A Bitter Pill To Swallow As Proteas Are Knocked Out Of Semi-Finals Spot Despite Winning 4 Games Out Of 5

Mark Boucher, the South Africa head coach, says missing out on the semi-finals of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 due to an inferior net run rate was a bitter pill to swallow.

South Africa emerged as a strong contender in the group of death-Group 1 to qualify for the semi-finals as the tournament progressed, but despite winning four of their five matches, the Proteas failed to make the top four.

Mark Boucher. Twitter/@SuperSportTV
Mark Boucher.- Twitter/@SuperSportTV

Mark Boucher Said It’s A Bitter Pill To Swallow As Proteas Are Knocked Out Of Semi-Finals Spot Despite Winning 4 Games Out Of 5 Due To Inferior Run Rate

In their final group game, they defeated Eoin Morgan-led England by 10 runs which weren’t enough to seal a top-four spot as England and Australia, who also had eight points each, had a better net run rate than the Proteas.

“It’s not successful because you’re knocked out of the World Cup. It’s a bitter pill to swallow” Boucher said at the post-match conference.

“I think we played some very good cricket throughout the campaign, cricket under a lot of pressure as well after having lost our first game. We put in a lot of hard work in training, our chats were good. I think we beat the in-form side in white-ball cricket for a while now,” he added.

South Africa Cricket Team (Image Credit: Twitter)
South Africa Cricket Team (Image Credit: Twitter)

Having lost the toss and asked to bat, South Africa needed to restrict England below 130 to qualify for the semis but weren’t able to do so. The Proteas posted 189 on the board batting first and had to restrict England under 131 to reach the last four but failed to stop the 2010 champions, who went to semis from Group 1 along with Australia.

England couldn’t overhaul the actual target of 190 but finished with 179 for 8 in 20 overs with Moeen Ali (37) and Dawid Malan (33) playing breezy cameos to snuff out South Africa’s semi-final hopes.

“It’s a tough one for the guys in the changing room. We knew what we had to do today, the equation was very difficult for us to have to get through.

“I just said to the guys just try to control what we can control. Unfortunately, we can’t control what other results are out there. We did the job today but it’s quite bitter,” Boucher said.

Mark Boucher rued the missed opportunities South Africa could have capitalized on in the games against Australia and Bangladesh.

Mark Boucher Rues Losing 1st Game To Australia And Taking Long To Reach Target Of 85 Odd Against Bangladesh

South Africa had almost defended 118 for 9 in their campaign opener against Australia. It was the only game they lost among 5 games.

“Well, the first game. The first game was tight. We just didn’t bat well enough. It was tough. We lost the toss. We batted first and we weren’t 100 percent sure what a good total was because we were the first game to go out there and be played.

“We may be looked at getting 160 but probably needed about 130, 140 to be competitive. We could have maybe done better there, ” said Mark Boucher.

South Africa had a chance to improve its net run rate against Bangladesh. However, they took 13.3 overs to chase 85. If they had done it inside eight overs, things could have been different.

“Chasing a small total against Bangladesh, people can maybe look at that and said we should have gone a bit harder there, but that wasn’t the intention, and we lost three wickets on a wicket that is going all over the shop. Unfortunately ifs and buts, they didn’t count now,” Mark Boucher maintained.

Rassie van der Dussen -- AFP
Rassie van der Dussen. Photo Credit: AFP

Mark Boucher, however, was happy with the side’s good show at the tournament, which he believes will stand them in good stead.

“This team know that is we are on a journey, upward curve, that we are learning along the way. You know, we by no means are a finished product,” the 44-year-old said.

“These games will stand us in very good stead because as I said, every game we played was under pressure. That’s one thing we probably haven’t done very well in the past is playing big games, pressurised games, and we really did well in this particular competition,” Mark Boucher further said.

Flying under the radar by quietly going about their business, South Africa had an impressive tournament. After losing to Australia, they rallied on to defeat Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies, and mighty England. Mark Boucher feels this young Proteas side is a work in progress and is headed in the right direction.

“Yes, it’s a young side. We are still developing and hopefully, we can go from strength to strength from here, take this confidence through, as well.

“It’s not something we just arrived at a World Cup and all of the sudden start playing good cricket. We have won a lot of games in recent times. So, we are heading in the right direction. We just need a bit of good luck and a bit of fortune to go our way and hopefully, we can sort of putting something in the trophy cabinet soon,” Mark Boucher stated.

Kagiso Rabada made history as he became the first South African to take a T20I hat-trick, as the Proteas ended their T20 World Cup campaign with a 10-run win over England.

However, it was a heartbreak for South Africa as they finished third despite having eight points due to a lower Net Run Rate than both, England and Australia. Rassie van der Dussen (94) and Aiden Markram (52) were key for the Proteas as they finished on a strong 189/2.

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