“Stay in the game,” is the title of a poem written by South Africa’s spin bowling coach Paul Adams, who read it out to the team before they took on Bangladesh in their final group stage match at the T20 World Cup. Now, they have to hope they will stay in the tournament.
Despite a seven-wicket win on Saturday night, to add to their 10-wicket triumph over West Indies in the opener and an 80-run victory over Scotland, South Africa, who also lost to England, are not guaranteed a place in the semi-finals. Their fate depends on the outcome of the last group game when West Indies play England, who will first play Scotland.
That means there could be a situation where three teams in the pool end up on six points each with net run-rate the deciding factor for the knockouts. South Africa did theirs a disservice by taking 17.2 overs to chase 107 against Bangladesh which took them down from a net run-rate of 1.5 to 1.38 and these small margins may matter.
Going in, South Africa already knew that and adapted their game to what they thought would best allow them to restrict Bangladesh to a small total on a fairly lively pitch. They became the first team at the event to bowl eight successive overs of pace before introducing a spinner. Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka found swing for three overs each upfront, before Nadine de Klerk and Annerie Dercksen took over and Bangladesh were reduced to 36 for 2 in the first eight overs.
Then, in the absence of another seam option, South Africa turned to spin and things became a little messy. All told, South Africa gave away 11 runs in wides, and lost their bite as Bangladesh settled. Still, on any other day, restricting the opposition to 106 would have been a cause of celebration, not criticism, so it’s difficult to be too harsh on South Africa.
The same can be said for winning the match with 16 balls to spare. No-one can accuse South Africa of not showing intent as each of their top three offered a chance as they tried to get their skates on.
Laura Wolvaardt was put down on 1 by a diving Sobhana Mostary at backward point, Anneke Bosch could have been run out at the non-striker’s end on 7 and Tazmin Brits was dropped on 21 after skying a ball to deep midwicket. In pursuit of the score, all three were dismissed by over 13.2 – three balls before South Africa needed to complete the chase to push their net run-rate above West Indies. It was then up to Kapp and Chloe Tryon to finish off, and they did. All that’s left to do, for South Africa, is wait. For three days.
In the bigger scheme of things, it’s not that long at all but in a tournament that only lasts 17 days, it’s enough time for a lot to happen. South Africa will try their best not to overthink things, knowing they have done all they can.
“The most important thing is to stay close to each other and stay together as a unit,” Brits said. “The golden oldies – and I am probably one of them – will probably relax. We’ll just make sure we rest and get ready as if we are going to go to that semi final. There’s no point having negative thoughts about it. And I think we might also have a team activity and then we’ll probably watch that game as well, hopefully in the team room. I won’t say who we’ll be supporting.”
They don’t have to. Realistically, South Africa will probably hope England win both their matches and top the group, with West Indies falling into third. There are other, unlikely scenarios, that could see England knocked out but South Africa will probably not spend too much time dwelling on that. Adams has encouraged them to stay in the moment and has been doing different things in every pre-match huddle to make as much of an impact as he can.
“He’s a very passionate man. In the previous game, he actually took off his shoes and put his feet on the ground and said, ‘We are grounded’,” Brits said. “I wish I could repeat the poem to you, but it was very, very motivational. I actually said “hashtag google.com” to him because I don’t know where he got it from but he’s very passionate and powerful when he says things and he tries to get us ramped up and ready for the game.”
Adams, who played two matches in the 1996 ODI World Cup, composed 12 rhyming couplets without any assistance from the internet as he continues to look for ways to inspire and the attitude is rubbing off on the team. Brits, in particular, has learned to be a little less hard on herself especially as she now tops the tournament’s run-charts.
“I might look like I’m in form, and I’m still not to put myself down,” she said. “I’m trying to talk better to myself because I’m very strict with myself and I’ve been told a few times I need to be a bit more loving and gentle with myself – but I want to do good for the team, especially being an opening batter.
“Especially in the powerplays, I don’t want my strike rate to be 100 or less. I want to get it to the 140s because when we make 45 or 60 in a powerplay that sets up the whole entire game. I’m happy I’m making runs and I’m happy I’m contributing towards the team, but I don’t think I’ll ever be happy until I get…that strike rate up.”
Her overall tournament strike rate sits at 105.44, slightly lower than her opening partner Laura Wolvaardt (111.27) but more or less in line with other openers. As surfaces get slower in the tournament’s final week, the scoring could become even less fluid and margins may tighten further. South Africa have already been here before.
It was at the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021 that the men’s team did not chase 85 quickly enough against Bangladesh and missed out a semi-final sport as a result. Given how closely the team’s fortunes have mirrored each other in the recent past – both the women and men reached the final of the last T20 World Cup – the women’s team will hope their scoring rate against Bangladesh does not come back to haunt them.
Or in Adams’ words, that they were able to, “Let doubt and fear just fade away, and own this moment, play by play.”
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket
