Walter ‘disappointed’ with poor all-round performance by Proteas

He admitted he was disappointed with the result, but Proteas coach Rob Walter refused to place the blame on their bowling attack after a shock 38-run defeat to the Netherlands at the Cricket World Cup.

Batting first in Dharamshala on Tuesday, the Dutch side were against the ropes at 50/4, and while they clawed their way back to 140/7, the SA team were still looking good.

However, captain Scott Edwards and former Proteas player Roelof van der Merwe bashed 64 runs off six overs in the closing stages of the Netherlands innings, lifting their total to 245/8 from their 43 overs in the rain-affected clash.

In response, the Proteas never really got going as they struggled to build partnerships, and they were eventually dismissed for 207 in the final over of their innings.

While he conceded the bowling attack had been poor at the death, Walter also felt they should have been able to chase down their target of 246.

“At 140 for 7, you’re in control of the game really, so to not be able to close it out at the death is disappointing, of course, and certainly the momentum shifted in the game then,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, we back ourselves still to be able to chase 240, but then we probably got off to a very poor start and they put us on the back foot.”

Lesson learned

The defeat, according to Walter, was a reminder to the Proteas that they needed to be on top of their game in every match of the global showpiece.

After securing convincing victories over Sri Lanka and Australia in their opening two matches of the round robin stage, the SA team settled in third place in the standings.

But they took a knock with their first loss of the tournament, and they needed to ensure they performed well against all of their opponents for the remainder of the first round.

“Ultimately, we weren’t good enough, specifically at the back end of the innings. And then at the start with the bat, they put us on the back foot,” Walter said.

“As I said before the World Cup started, I don’t think there’s any weak teams in this tournament. And if you’re not switched on and you don’t win the key moments in the game, you find yourself on the wrong side of the result. We learned that today.”