ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

November 3, 2022

Temba Bavuma

Sydney Cricket Ground

South Africa

Post Match Media Conference

Pakistan 185/9, South Africa 108/9 (DLS Method)

Q. Is that a wakeup call or a concern heading into The Finals?

TEMBA BAVUMA: I wouldn't say it's a concern. Probably is a bit of a wakeup call. For us looking at the game, how it went about, I thought the first ten overs we were superb. We were able to get them under pressure. Then after that, the wheels probably went off.

Conditions changed a little bit with the balls going to skid. I think in terms of our awareness, in terms of adapting to that, we were very slow in that. We allowed them to get momentum into their innings, and they were able to get a formidable score on the board.

I think with the ball, with them coming into the field, they had momentum. They probably had the advantage on their side, and they just ran with that. I think a team like Pakistan, as you know, is very dangerous when you give them any type of momentum.

Like I said, I don't think it's a big concern. Yes, there are talking points for us, areas that we can learn from. Maybe it's a performance that we needed to kind of maybe bring us down back to earth.

Q. Temba, it probably wasn't your best day in the field for you guys catching and ground fielding. Was that something the conditions play a part in, particularly extending as that went on? Or is that not the sort of execution you want to use?

TEMBA BAVUMA: Yeah, I'm not going to look for excuses regarding this play. Up until this game, our fielding has been very good. We fielded at night. We fielded during the day. We fielded in wet conditions.

So I think today individually guys know where they are mentally. Mistakes that were made were not the type of mistakes you want to be making at this level, especially at this part of the tournament.

Maybe the intensity lowered a bit for the guys. Individually, the guys know, but it's definitely not the standard of fielding that we pride ourselves on.

Q. Checking on David Miller. Sort of how serious were those back spasms? Is it a concern or something he'll be able to work off over the next day or so?

TEMBA BAVUMA: I do believe it was precautionary. I'm not the representative for the medical team. Obviously we have the game against Netherlands. Hopefully David can be fit and ready for that game.

But as far as I know, he wasn't physically fit for this game, and it was a precautionary measure not to field him in this game.

Q. Just on when you were chasing, just before the rain came, you were actually ahead of the DL quite a little bit, and then Shadab got the two wickets in an over. Obviously that can happen, but is that just a reminder as well to keep game awareness in terms of how those play out? There might be another rain game you get in this tournament with things on the line. Is that something you've got it in mind just to be aware of how the game's playing out?

TEMBA BAVUMA: I think that's a good point. To be honest, when Aiden and myself were batting, we weren't thinking of the rain or thinking of the DL score, and obviously not thinking of getting out like that in quick succession.

But I think the rain, the weather has played a part in the World Cup. It's been raining all over the country, and I think that's probably something teams are going to have to keep aware of. It's obviously a bit tricky, can be challenging.

You want to control what you can. Can't control what's happening out there, but you can definitely control what's happening out in the field. Yeah, I think that's a good point for people to consider.

Q. Hi, Temba. I'm not sure if you know this statistic, no team has won the T20 World Cup without losing a game. Is it a way of just getting this out of the way and then just refocusing for what the next possible three games ahead?

TEMBA BAVUMA: I think, as a team, obviously if you are going to lose, it's probably now. Looking at our next game, that's a must win for us, looking at the table where we stand. Obviously the playoff games are also must win games.

So I guess we had a bit of a lifeline probably because of the way we played up until this point, but I think from now on it's about us playing our best cricket.

Look, if we come unstuck, we come unstuck. Today we didn't play our best cricket, but that's how we'll be looking hopefully the next three games.

Q. Temba, just how did you feel when the first one came out the middle? How did you personally feel when that happened and for the remainder of your innings today?

TEMBA BAVUMA: It's been a while since I hit the ball in the middle. I felt a lot better today, that I was seeing the ball quite well, making better decisions out there, a lot more calmer. I guess I just tried to enjoy it, to be honest. Watch the ball and whatever happens after that happens.

Yeah, much better today. Hopefully that can continue much longer into this tournament.

Q. Temba, well batted. I just wanted to know, you mentioned in terms of the bowling, you said the word adapting. Do you feel like the problem was the first half of the innings they'd gone really well, the length the guys had been bowling and that. Then the second half of the innings, they maybe tried to stick with what had worked in the first half for a bit too long?

TEMBA BAVUMA: Yeah, that's probably -- that's what I was thinking. I think, when you have a team at 50/5, the last thing you're thinking is they're going to get to 180, 190. Maybe that's probably where the problem lies. The problem lied with us as a team.

I think the hard lines with bowlers, that's been something we've spoken a lot, and that's been very successful for us as a unit. Guys using the pace, guys using their height. I think on that wicket, especially when it started getting -- it started sliding into the wicket with the short boundaries were in play, that is once they started being able to exploit that, and they really put us under pressure.

I think we allowed probably three or four overs to kind of go by where they got a bit of momentum, and by the time we tried to change, the damage, a lot of damage had been done.

But I think the bowling play, those are things we've spoken about as a team. We're always going to go hard lines. We're going to use our pace. We're going to use our bounce. Unfortunately for us today, it wasn't -- it probably wasn't the right plan considering the conditions out there.