Proteas need to hit their straps to progress to T20 World Cup semifinals

The South African cricket team gave their T20 World Cup chances a boost with a dramatic four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday.

After a tough week for the Proteas, where the initial failure of former captain Quinton de Kock to take the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement overshadowed their T20 campaign, a victory was exactly what they needed as they leap-frogged Australia into second position in their group behind leaders England.

With matches against Bangladesh and England still to come, the Proteas need to hit their straps if they are to advance.

They will have to get their top of the order batting right if they are to progress to the semifinals of the competition by virtue of finishing in the top two of their group.

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It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Proteas on Saturday.

Chasing 143 runs to win after the bowlers did their job, the Proteas stumbled midway through their innings and needed big-hitting heroics from David Miller and Kagiso Rabada at the death as they reached the target with one ball to spare after needing 15 off the last over to win.

Man-of-the-Match left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi said: “There’s a World Cup to be won, so how can one not be passionate?”

The Proteas need to execute their skills better over the next few weeks because relying on passion alone will not be enough.