Proteas’ resolve keeps strengthening after KG and Jansen’s batting heroics

There were 10 balls left in the South African innings when Kagiso Rabada joined Marco Jansen at the crease, with 13 runs needed for victory in their quarterfinal with the West Indies in Antigua on Monday. 

The Proteas had scored 24 runs off the previous 36 balls, lost three wickets in that period and panic had seemingly set in. Earlier, during South Africa’s mostly excellent fielding stint, Rabada crashed into Jansen when both attempted to take a catch on the boundary. That moment of mayhem would have been the perfect illustration for the car crash the Proteas' innings was turning into. 

But Rabada stayed cool. So did Jansen. Having taken a pair of singles off Roston Chase’s final over and then had some more good fortune through a couple of byes, they met mid-pitch before Chase’s last ball. 

“KG [Rabada] came to me and said, ‘This ball is basically a free hit’, and I said, ‘Ya, just go for it,’” Jansen said on Monday evening. 

Rabada unleashed one of the most stylish cover drives in world cup history — a shot his father Mpho later tweeted was payback for the broken windows caused by his son’s burgeoning talents. 

“That [boundary] helped a lot. The equation would have been a lot different if he didn’t hit that. It eased the pressure a little in what we needed in the last over,” Jansen said.

It was Jansen’s turn next, though he didn’t plan what unfolded off the first ball of the final over bowled by Obed McCoy.

“I told KG for the first three balls I was going to try to hit in the gaps. Initially, with the way the field was set, I thought he was either going to go very wide [of off stump] or straight and then he bowled it into that slot area — and then my reactions just took over.”

The ball sailed flat over the long-on boundary. In the Proteas dugout, initially there was silence with the players not knowing if the ball had flown for six or gone for four. When it was confirmed the match was over, that they’d won another tight one and qualified for the semifinals, reactions were mixed. 

Tabraiz Shamsi and Anrich Nortjé, the last two batters, were elated, while David Miller and Tristan Stubbs, who’d succumbed to the West Indies’ pressure, puffed their cheeks, wearing the look of men who were relieved their errors didn’t add to more World Cup woe. 

It was the fifth of the Proteas' seven wins at the tournament that went down to the final over. They are testing the limits of their good fortune and resilience but Jansen said it was making them stronger.

“We didn’t play our best game against Nepal and we were not supposed to win, but everyone was switched on at the right time and we made things happen.”

“The tight finishes aren’t good for the nerves, but getting those wins, with everyone chipping in at different stages, gives the team a lot of confidence that on any given day anyone can do a job for the team, which is a nice feeling.”

He confirmed the collision with Rabada only left him winded. “It was probably when I hit the ground; you should ask KG how his ribs are feeling,” Jansen joked.

The Proteas will compete in their third T20 World Cup semifinal, with their opponents early on Tuesday morning SA time confirmed as Afghanistan, who entered their first semi beating Bangladesh. South Africa meet Afghanistan at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in San Fernando, Trinidad on Wednesday (Thursday, 2.30am SA time).