South African leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has hit back at his team’s “ridiculous” critics after the Proteas booked their place in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
South Africa won the championship for the seventh time in seven games on Sunday thanks to a three-wicket victory over the two-time champion West Indies, which was led by Shamsi with 3-27.
In his four overs, the 34-year-old dismissed top scorer Roston Chase and risky opener Kyle Mayers.
He was dropped for the victory over England four days after he gave up 50 runs on the same pitch as the United States appeared poised to pull off an unexpected win.
“In the previous game I bowled later in the innings and I went for 50 and there were certain critics coming out from the woodwork, speaking about pressure and how I can’t handle pressure,” said Shamsi.
“I think in a quarter-final match I hope that was enough pressure for me to respond to.”
Shamsi expressed his dismay at the criticism he and his group had received throughout the campaign.
“It’s just a little bit ridiculous when it’s ex-players,” said Shamsi.
“When they were on the field they did the same things. As cricketers we know sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
In the second stage Super Eights, South Africa won both their pool and their first round group, advancing to the final four together with the defending champions, England.
But after a string of agonising near-misses, the Proteas are still without a world crown, so it’s been quite the roller coaster ride.
They have had to work hard to maintain their winning momentum in this competition.
They were 12-4 at one point and needed to win by just 104 runs, but they beat the Netherlands by four wickets.
Before avoiding what would have been a seismic shock with a one-run victory over Nepal, they won by four runs against Bangladesh.
“Obviously most of the games have been a lot closer than we would have personally liked,” added Shamsi.
“But the amazing thing is that this new Proteas team always seems to get over the line.
“We’ve been put under huge pressure basically in every single game that we’ve played and the boys have managed to find a way to win no matter what the situation, no matter how close the game.
“So that’s really pleasing for us as a unit, and in a funny way we’re looking forward to it.”
The West Indies’ elimination from their own World Cup was a heartbreaking setback.
They had defeated South Africa and England in the Super Eights after winning four games in a row to advance through the first round.
“We are disappointed because we think we had the personnel within our room to actually win a home World Cup,” admitted captain Rovman Powell.
“Over the last 12 months or so we have played fantastic cricket. It’s maybe one of the first times a West Indies team is ranked number 3 in T20 in the world and that must say something.”
Photo by Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
