"What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger" said Keshav Maharaj ahead of yet another must win clash.
In the next round of group 1 fixtures, South Africa face off against Sri Lanka in what will be an intense affair at Sharjah on Saturday, 30 October. Both teams have played two games thus far, having won 1 and lost 1. A win will keep their semi-final hopes alive while a loss could possibly kill their hopes.
Before the Proteas took to the field in a must win game against the defending Champions, West Indies on Tuesday, Cricket South Africa's board issued a directive that stated, the entire team should take a knee to show support in the fight against racism. This came after images surfaced of the team sporting three different gestures in their opening encounter against Australia which led to this decision to show "unity". This sudden news however, caused one of their senior and key batters to pull out of the match citing "personal reasons". Quinton De Kock later issued an emotional statement saying he will take a knee if that's what's needed and apologised to his teammates and fans for any hurt he may have caused.
De Kock ended off his statement with: "If he (Temba) and the team, and South Africa, will have me, I would love nothing more than to play cricket for my country again."
With all the drama aside, hopefully now the focus can shift back to the cricket and remain that way. There's lots at stake in the remaining matches and the last thing the Proteas need is "added pressure" especially considering their record at ICC events.
"It's obviously been a tough week. The boys are mature and adult enough. It has brought us even closer together. It showed the character of the team. Our focus is back on the cricket. We leave everything behind when we cross over that line (to take the field)" - Keshav Maharaj.
Although the Proteas have the better record over Sri Lanka in recent times having convincingly white washed them in Sri Lanka, this is a world cup and no team can be taken lightly and although hearing," In T20 cricket, anything can happen on the day" might be the most overused one liner, there is some truth to it. Their batting unit has somehow clicked and has been far better than most expected but have shown vulnerability against spin. Shamsi, Maharaj and even Markram have troubled them on their recent tour in Sri Lanka and will take confidence going into this match.
"They've played some good cricket. This is a world cup and teams find a way" - Keshav Maharaj.
Pitch and Conditions
Sharjah has always been a run fest but in recent games we've seen the pitch is more on the slower side and teams will definitely fancy chasing at this ground as we've seen that seems to be the trend of the world cup thus far.
"It looks like quite a good surface. We must get our lines and lengths right and make sure we adapt quickly" - Maharaj said.
Key Performers
From South Africa's perspective, Aiden Markram has been in ominous form with the willow in hand. It seems as if he's finally maturing and growing into the player everyone knows he can be. He's been consistently scoring runs and if the Proteas are going to stand any chance on exiting this group, they'll need him to continue. He's remained calm in difficult situations and shown if you apply yourselves, runs can be scored.
The bowlers have been a clear strength. They've shown how lethal they can be at the top picking early wickets as well as at the death.
Charity Asalanka has shown glimpses of how destructive he can be with the bat but it is Sri Lanka's bowlers that possess the threat especially their spinners. They've been promoting Wanindu Hasaranga up the order but they'll be aiming for their batters to do the job upfront.
Possible XI
Sri Lanka:
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera (wk), Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana/Akila Dananjaya, Lahiru Kumara
South Africa:
Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk) Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
