“This team is different…:” South Africa coach on prospects of reaching first T20 World Cup final

Tarouba [Trinidad and Tobago], June 26 (ANI): South Africa coach Rob Walter explained that the side will not carry the baggage of previous knockout disappointments and will give their all in ICC T20 World Cup semi-final clash against an in-form Afghanistan, and ultimately try to fulfil the country’s dream of lifting the prestigious trophy.

It will be a chance for both teams to create history as a first-ever final in any Cricket World Cup across both white-ball formats will be up for grabs for South Africa and rising Asian side Afghanistan in the first semifinal of the World Cup 2024 at the Brian Lara Stadium on Thursday.

The Proteas have previously faced disappointments in World Cup knockouts and their latest challenge comes against a Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan, who have already defeated heavyweights like New Zealand and Australia to seal their first-ever semi-final spot in a World Cup.

Unbeaten South Africa with a powerful batting line-up that possesses attacking weapons right down to number seven and a bowling attack that has pace and guile aplenty, are hoping it is eighth-time lucky at a men’s World Cup semi-final across formats, having lost all seven semifinals it has played so far.

The Proteas have never advanced to a title match in short-format World Cups.

Walter indicated during the pre-match press conference that South Africa would focus solely on the game, which promises to be a challenging battle, rather than their previous results.

“Definitely it’s always great to dream and I think everyone in South Africa dreams of the time when a trophy gets lifted. No doubt that will happen. Whether it’s going to be this week, that remains to be seen. We’re just going to try and play the best game of cricket that we can. And we still haven’t played our best game yet,” Walter said in a pre-match press conference.

South Africa has a perfect record at the tournament but have been pushed close a number of times across their seven matches. Netherlands, Bangladesh and Nepal could and maybe should have beaten the Proteas during the group stage. But Proteas produced “clutch” performances to win close and crucial moments in these matches.

The Proteas have a long history of failing to advance to the World Cup knockout stages, despite being regarded as favourites prior of the competition. South Africa hosted the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup and were eliminated in the quarter-finals by India, followed by a semi-final loss to Pakistan in the 2009 T20 World Cup. South Africa’s most unexpected turn of fate happened when they fell to the Netherlands, resulting in their group-stage exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Walter said the squad playing in the ongoing T20 World Cup is different from the previous ones.

“Look, I said, the near misses in the past, they belong to the people who missed them. To be honest, this team is a different team. We own whatever is ours to own. And so, our nearest reflection point is this tournament where we’ve managed to get over the line. So that’s what we think about,” Walter added.

Afghanistan’s progression to the semi-finals of the World Cup has been a remarkable, as they have edged out much more experienced sides.