South Africa will remember their shocking defeat at the hands of Netherlands for a long time. They lost to a spirited Dutch side in the Super 12 fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Adelaide on Sunday, November 6.
The Proteas needed a win to qualify for the semifinals with seven points in their kitty. But with just 5 points now, they head back home as Pakistan and India became the two semifinalists from Group 2.
Flaccid bowling allowed the Netherlands to post a competitive 158/4 on the board, and even flatter batting limited South Africa to 145/8 in reply. After the loss, a heartbroken Temba Bavuma opened up about his future as South Africa’s captain.
“To be considering that now, a lot of it would be emotional,” Bavuma said in the post-match conference. “It’s probably something I will think about. I’ll speak to the relevant people.”
The 2022 T20 World Cup will be Mark Boucher’s last as South Africa’s head coach. His successor may think of relieving Bavuma from the captaincy job.
“I’ll have to see who comes in as coach. When you have changes like that they come in with their own style, and they might find a different leader to execute whatever vision and style of play that they have,” Bavuma added.
“But it would be emotional now if I thought about all of that. Whatever happens I think I’ve carried myself with dignity through all the good and the bad times. If I were to leave I would leave with my pride intact.”
In 33 T20Is, Bavuma has scored 635 runs at an average of 22.67 and a strike rate of 116.08. His form was the talking point ahead of the start of this World Cup. In the ongoing tournament, the right-handed batter could manage only 70 runs in five innings as an opener at a strike rate of 112.90. He got out after scoring a run-a-ball 20 in his team’s must-win game against the Netherlands.
