Proteas captain Temba Bavuma admits that Tuesday was his toughest day at the office as leader of the national team.
His team overcame off-field drama, with wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock pulling out after the team was instructed by Cricket South Africa that they have to take the knee before facing the West Indies, to win the match by eight wickets.
It was South Africa’s first win at the tournament after losing by five wickets to Australia in the first outing.
And Bavuma hopes they can fight through the adversity, with Sri Lanka up next on Saturday.
He says of Tuesday’s events: “Insofar as me personally from a captain’s point of view, to be honest with you, probably one of the toughest days I’ve had to deal with as a captain, as a leader of the team. Probably for obvious reasons with the off-field matters.
“But I’m just glad that we were able to get into the right frame of mind as a team and play the way we played.”
He adds: “I think we shouldn’t look past our performances as a team. Coming from Australia where we lost that first one and then coming up against a powerhouse West Indian side and winning the game with eight wickets, I don’t think that should be taken lightly.”
Asked if it can only get easier from here on in, he says: “I don’t think so, to be honest. I think it’s only going to get tougher. I think it’s probably important that as a team, as players, we stay even more together. Look, it’s good for us to get the ball rolling, to get that first win under the belt, and hopefully we can create some momentum with that.”