Ken Borland

Proteas coach Mark Boucher was no doubt still feeling the sting of beating almighty England but still not advancing from their pool after just one defeat when he said “you can’t describe our campaign as successful” as they exited the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

South Africa beat previously unbeaten tournament favourites England by 10 runs in Sharjah, but failed to qualify for the semifinals because their nett run-rate – 0.739 – was lower than Australia’s (1.216), the only team to win against the Proteas. Having posted an impressive 189/2, South Africa needed to restrict England to less than 131 on Saturday night to make the final four.

“You can’t describe our campaign as successful because we were knocked out, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow because we beat the in-form side in white-ball cricket for the last few years, a very dangerous England side,” Boucher said.

“It’s a tough one. We were under pressure after we lost that first game to Australia and the equation today was very difficult for us to get through, even though we did the job today.

“That was a tight first game, but we just didn’t bat well enough. We lost the toss, it was the first game and we weren’t sure what would be a good total. We thought 160, but 130 would have done the job.

“Maybe we could have gone harder against Bangladesh, but the pitch was going all over the shop and we lost a couple of early wickets. It’s all ifs and buts and it’s no good starting with those now,” Boucher said.

But the Proteas, considering in what disarray they were in a year ago, have given plenty of reason to believe they are on the right track, especially with the next T20 World Cup coming up in less than a year’s time in Australia.

“The team knows they are on a journey, they are on an upward curve and this tournament will stand us in  good stead. We did really well in some highly pressurised games, we will take confidence from that and hopefully go from strength to strength.

“We are heading in the right direction and we have won a lot of games lately, even though we unfortunately did not pass the test at this World Cup. I’ve said all along that we are improving.

“It’s about results as well of course, but we have played some really good cricket for quite some time. The players have been upskilled and they are learning to play in different situations.

“We are not the finished product, but we are working hard to get back to where we should be in world cricket. It’s going to be an exciting next year and we just need to be patient and keep challenging the players,” Boucher said.

Any lingering worries that South Africa’s bowling attack might not be as effective in Abu Dhabi were blown away on Monday as the Proteas defended a total of just 145-5 in beating Afghanistan by 41 runs in their T20 World Cup warm-up match.

An outstanding all-round bowling effort saw Afghanistan restricted to 104 for eight in their 20 overs as South Africa bowled with tremendous control and a clear plan.

Slow left-armer Bjorn Fortuin (4-1-12-1) and paceman Lungi Ngidi (4-0-27-2) set the tone up front as they dismissed both openers for ducks, and then spinners Keshav Maharaj (4-0-14-1) and Tabraiz Shamsi both struck in their first overs as Afghanistan struggled to 42 for five.

Seamer Dwaine Pretorius also chipped in with a wicket and did a good job in the middle overs, sticking to his strengths.

Shamsi, the No.1 bowler in the world in this format, had no mercy on the rest of the batting line-up as he finished with three for 18 in his four overs.

South Africa had won the toss and elected to bat first, but were off to a torrid start against spin.

Quinton de Kock fell for 7 to impressive off-spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman (4-1-24-3) and a rusty Temba Bavuma struggled in his first competitive knock since September 2 after suffering a broken thumb in Sri Lanka.

Bavuma only scored two runs off his first 13 balls, but then picked up the pace to make 31 off 39 deliveries.

South Africa only posted 26 runs in the powerplay, and such a slow start normally damages a team’s prospects irretrievably.

But Aiden Markram played a skilful innings on a slow pitch, his 48 off 35 balls injecting some urgency and being the mainstay of the batting effort.

Rassie van der Dussen (21) and Heinrich Klaasen (11) both scored at well over a run-a-ball and David Miller provided an explosive finish with 20 not out off 10 deliveries.

Beating the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld has proven to be a precipitous task ever since Jake White arrived in Pretoria, especially for the Sharks, but their captain Phepsi Buthelezi said on Tuesday that they are backing themselves to do it in the Currie Cup final on Saturday by running the home side off their feet.

The only match White’s Bulls have lost at home was in the opening round of the Currie Cup when they fielded a C team on the same day as the Rainbow Cup final and lost 24-48 to Western Province; the Sharks have lost their last four matches at Loftus Versfeld, including last season’s Currie Cup final, although they took that all the way into extra time.

That record has seen the KwaZulu-Natalians determined to change their fortunes by being more true to themselves.

“We want to go up there and play our game, perform to the best of our ability. We know what we are capable of and we’re not going to listen to what other people say. We obviously want to change our record up there and we’ll do that by playing our rugby. In finals, teams tend to play Test rugby, but we want to play Sharks rugby. Obviously the Bulls have a big pack, but we’ll look to move them around.

“As a squad, we have learnt from our mistakes and everyone is feeling confident that we can do this. There’s nothing better than being the underdog and obviously a lot of people are writing us off. But we really want to play our brand of rugby and everyone here believes we can win this. It’s an amazing opportunity to disappoint a lot of people …,” Buthelezi said with a smile on his face.

But as much as the Sharks want to play positive rugby, they know that it is going to be vital for them to stop the Bulls’ big hitters. For at least 80 minutes.

And while the Bulls believe it was their superior fitness that won them the last Currie Cup final, the Sharks are confident that they will not be crocked when it comes to the closing stages of the match.

“We believe we’re the fittest team in the competition and altitude is not an issue because we’ve all played in Pretoria so many times. Obviously the Bulls’ performance against Western Province in the semi-final was really good, but it’s really simple: If we stop their momentum, then after the third phase they don’t really know what to do and they just kick the ball away.

“Discipline is also vital. It starts with penalties, if you give those away then they get into your 22, they maul you and they have such strong runners off that. That’s just giving them momentum on top of momentum,” Buthelezi said.

Apart from the daunting task of trying to make the Rainbow Cup final, the Sharks are adamant that they cannot brook the thought of the Bulls beating them on their home turf when they meet in the crunch final round of South African Pro14 fixtures in Durban on Saturday.

In order to top the South African standings and get to travel to Italy to take on Benneton Treviso, the Sharks have to win the game with a bonus point and deny the Bulls any log points. And they need to do that with a side weakened by what coach Sean Everitt described as “a few niggles we are trying to push through”.

Because of that, their bench will only be announced on Friday, “once we have more clarity on injuries”, but the starting line-up revealed on Thursday is missing wing Sbu Nkosi and loose forward Henco Venter and there are concerns over the two reserve props, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Wiehahn Herbst.

But Everitt says the Sharks will not be lying down even if their Rainbow Cup hopes are dashed because they have endured some painful defeats in Pretoria over the last year and they don’t want to suffer the same fate at home.

“Psychologically it’s important that we lead on the scoreboard at the end of the day, and I’ve told the players that we first have to win the game anyway and then go for the bonus point. The players want to make Kings Park a fortress, although we narrowly let that slip against the Stormers. They were disappointed with how we went down in the last 20 minutes of the last game against the Bulls in Pretoria.

“But we have also won games coming from behind at the death and the players want to show their character. It’s important we get one over the Bulls regardless of whether we qualify for the final or not. We were narrowly beaten by the Bulls in the Currie Cup final and we want to bounce back and turn the tide against them. The energy and motivation this week is the best it’s been,” Everitt said.

After the impressive win over the Lions last weekend, it has taken a bit of finesse in selection for Everitt to both reward the players who shone at Ellis Park and reintegrate his Springboks.

“We took a changed team to the Lions, where we had to get the bonus point win which is never easy, and the guys really turned up and did very well. So this is another opportunity for many of them and they are good enough for that, we just want to build on that performance.

“But it’s also about my relationship with the international players and I never question their efforts. They got us to where we are now, many of them are world champions and a guy like Lukhanyo Am is our captain who has played well every week,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Anthony Volmink, Lukhanyo Am (C), Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Thembelani Bholi, Siya Kolisi, Hyron Andrews, JJ van der Mescht, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench: *To be confirmed.