Aiden Markram and his team have partially emulated what the side led by Hansie Cronje had achieved almost 26 years ago.
Back in November 1998, the Cronje-led South Africa had emerged champions of the ICC Wills International Cup in Dhaka, beating the West Indies in the final by four wickets.
On Thursday morning (Indian time), Markram and Co. demolished a spirited Afghanistan by nine wickets in the semi-final at Tarouba. More importantly, their maiden T20 World Cup final berth is the Proteas’ first appearance in a World Cup/ICC trophy final since that 1998 triumph.
Earlier this year, the Proteas were bundled out for a pathetic 55 against India and lost the second Test in Cape Town inside two days, with the series finishing 1-1. Their frontline players had to choose SA20 (franchise-based T20 tournament) over the Test tour of New Zealand in February because of contractual matters.
Thereafter, as they were preparing for this T20 showpiece, controversy erupted over the selection of just one black African player (Kagiso Rabada) in the 15-member Cup squad. That was contrary to the policy introduced in 2016, which said the playing XI had to feature a minimum of six non-white players, including two black Africans.
Despite the turmoil in South African cricket, the current unit has gone on to achieve what much stronger South African teams led by Shaun Pollock and Graeme Smith couldn’t.
“This is big for South African cricket. For the people of South Africa, it’s very important as success in sports unifies the nation, which then plays a big part in solving some major crises,” acknowledged Paul Adams, South Africa’s former left-arm wrist spinner, who played 45 Tests and 24 ODIs.
“This team has played differently. They’ve been an unpredictable unit and gone with whatever was put in front of them. The games they have gone through were close. There has been some scrapping around, but sometimes that builds a lot of resilience,”Adams emphasised.
Under severe pressure against the Netherlands, Nepal, England and the Windies, the Proteas clawed out of tense situations, before crushing the Afghans in the semis. Does that mean they have shed the ‘chokers’ tag?
“They came in as underdogs, wanted to show they are privileged to be in that position and ready to put themselves under pressure to be able to achieve it,” Adams stated.
“It’s a completely different vibe in the team and I don’t think they are worried about who they will be up against in the final.”
Brief scores: Afghanistan 56 in 11.5 ovs (Marco Jansen 3/16, Tabraiz Shamsi 3/6). South Africa 60/1 in 8.5 ovs. South Africa won by 9 wickets.
