Proteas captain Temba Bavuma is hoping his team “win the moments that matter” when they face Afghanistan in their crunch ICC Champions Trophy opener in Karachi on Friday (11am SA time start).
The Proteas once again enter a major ICC tournament with the weight of previous disappointments hanging over their heads.
The latest, of course, was the ICC T20 World Cup final, where the South Africans made history by overcoming their semi-final hurdle for the first time, but fell short again when ultimate glory was beckoning in Barbados last year.
“There’s no negativity from the fact that we haven’t been able to be successful in other ICC events or editions, but instead, there’s a lot more positivity and confidence in terms of our ability or how far we can go within the tournament,” Bavuma said on Thursday.
“I think the nice thing is that we have guys with that experience, and it’s more about learnings that guys are coming into the tournament with. I think there’s no real baggage that exists amongst the guys.”
Unlike the ODI World Cup, where the Proteas also reached the semi-finals before bowing out to Australia in 2023 under Bavuma’s leadership, which lasts for over six weeks, the Champions Trophy is fast and furious.
The Proteas play three group matches in just over a week, before hopefully qualifying for the knockout stages.
“We understand the Champions Trophy is a little bit different,” Bavuma said.
“It’s almost like every game is a knockout type of thing, and our mindset really is to make sure that we pitch up and play our best game of cricket.
“Hopefully we’re playing five games and not three games of cricket in this tournament. I think most importantly, we win the moments that matter.”
The Proteas are up against a highly-competitive Afghanistan team first up, and Bavuma’s men will be wary of their Asian counterparts, after recently being on the wrong side of a 2-1 series defeat in Sharjah.
“I think they’ve got a lot of experience within their team: guys who have that international pedigree, at least from a skill point of view,” the SA skipper said.
“We played against them mid to late last year and they were victorious, so they won’t be short of any type of confidence coming into the game tomorrow.
Game face for Match Day -1 📸
It’s the Champions Trophy and the Proteas are ready for action ✅️🏏🇿🇦#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/d6BkRN9KGE
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) February 20, 2025
“We’ve also had a good look at them – I think probably a similar team that we played against in Sharjah that will be coming again.
“So, I guess we kind of know what to expect.
“So, you know, in terms of our preparation, we’ve ticked the boxes that we feel that we need to tick, but I think most importantly we’ll have to come out and bring out our A-game.”
