Proteas look to overcome World Cup final hangover with T20 series victory in the Caribbean

Tristan Stubbs of South Africa on strike, watched by Rishabh Pant of India during their ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup 2024 Final match at Kensington Oval on 29 June in Bridgetown, Barbados. (Photo: Philip Brown / Getty Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

22 Aug 2024

South Africa take on the West Indies with a fresh-look side from the one that fell at the final hurdle at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean two months ago.

The Proteas take on West Indies tomorrow in their first T20 match since the final of the T20 World Cup at the end of June when they lost by seven runs in heartbreaking fashion to India.

It was South Africa’s greatest ever World Cup campaign, but the preparation cycle starts again with the next T20 World Cup scheduled for the subcontinent in 2026.

Nonetheless, several players are still trying to shake off the disappointment of coming so close to holding South Africa’s first ICC silverware.

“You give it as much time as it needs,” skipper Aiden Markram said, about processing the final defeat. “It was a tough one to swallow at the time, and definitely from then up until now, it’s gotten a bit better to handle and process.”

Tristan Stubbs, who played a massive role in getting the team in solid positions with the bat in the tournament, reiterated the words of his skipper.

“It will come up when you don’t want it to,” Stubbs said to the media this week. “I tried to forget about it as best as possible. I had a review. It wasn’t easy, it’s still not easy when I get asked about it. Especially because we’re playing in the Caribbean, so we get reminded.

“Fortunately we’re playing where we played the semi-final, so there’s a bit of good vibes there.”

Stubbs, though, believes the ups and downs of the T20 World Cup have made the national T20 side battle hardened.

“The whole World Cup was a good experience for myself and the team,” he said. “I was batting in a new position. The conditions were so different and we found ways to win, which is an underrated skill: being able to win ugly.

“As a team we can take a lot from that. You can be 50 for five and still win a T20 game.”

A new squad

There are several new faces in the squad to face West Indies, while players who featured in the final including Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada have either been rested or been allowed to play in various franchise leagues.

The next T20 World Cup is also two years away. Despite this, head coach Rob Walter believes the series is as important as any as he attempts to build depth in the squad.

“In my opinion there’s 18 months until the 2026 World Cup in India,” Walter said. “We have nine series from now until then.

“That leaves us with between 32 to 36 fixtures before the World Cup turns up, in terms of giving guys international opportunities, playing against quality T20 sides like we are.

“Not every one of our players are marquee players in (franchise) leagues, so we have to use these opportunities to play against strong opposition.

“We need to grow the base of our players who are competing at that level. For me the importance of fixtures like these is massive. I don’t think the players see a series like this as less important than any other.”

While several of the aforementioned players are plying their trade on the franchise circuit instead of in national colours, Walter sees the silver lining in the situation.

“The leagues and the congestion (in the cricket calendar) are a challenge, but it can be a positive for us in that we have a broader group of players playing competitive cricket,” he said.

A young star

One of the fresh faces in the Proteas squad is 18-year-old Kwena Maphaka, the stand-out performer in the South Africa under-19s World Cup campaign this year.

“He’s a wonderfully calm young guy,” Walter said about the youngster. “He seems to have his head screwed on very well.

“We’ve seen him perform for the Lions in the CSA T20 Challenge, bowl super overs and win games for them there. He performed well in the under-19 World Cup. (We’ve seen) him run out for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL as a schoolboy.

“He’s done some incredibly amazing things for a young guy and seems to have a very cool perspective on it all.”

Walter said that the first time he had seen Maphaka bowl live was in one of the net sessions in the Caribbean, and he was immediately impressed.

“Skill set aside, I love his mindset,” Walter added. “I love his calmness. We see him as a strong potential for the Proteas moving forward.

“This was an ideal opportunity to get him on tour and get him into the system.” DM

The first ball will be bowled at 9pm at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow.

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South Africa

A new squad

A young star