T20 World Cup: South Africa relentlessly looking to maintain momentum against KO’ed Zimbabwe | Cricket News –

TimesofIndia.com in New Delhi: South Africa are the team to beat in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Barring a tense and exciting Super Double against Afghanistan, they highlighted their credentials by beating favorites and defending champions India.

As a result, they have won six matches in a row and are the only unbeaten team in the competition. The team faces Zimbabwe, who have already been eliminated from the tournament, in an all-African tournament at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.And with a semi-final against New Zealand, this would be the worst time to put down the pedal. Even more impressive for the Proteas is the fact that there is not a single individual at the wheel to keep this juggernaut with all guns blazing. Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickleton, Dewald Preves, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs fired with the bat and Lungi Ngidi, Marko Janssen and Corbin Bush did the job with the ball.

“From our point of view, we have been really sharp and what we want to ensure is that we maintain that discipline and intensity and that we do not back down as far as that is concerned,” South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince said on the eve of the dead rubber.Six wins in a row and two of the recent victories coming in convincing fashion, against India and West Indies by 76 runs and 9 wickets, respectively, South Africa have form and momentum on their side as they enter the knockout rounds. In comparison, their semi-final rivals, New Zealand, made it through after Pakistan failed to restrict Sri Lanka in the Super Eight. So, is there any such thing as “perfect preparation”?“Obviously winning creates good momentum. No matter how much you win, sometimes you can get convincing wins.

Other times, you can have close matches that really bring the group together, so regardless of your ability to get over the line, I don’t think there’s a perfect way. “If you look at England’s last match (against New Zealand), you won the way England won (by 4 wickets with 3 balls to spare) and their bowlers at number seven and eight are making big contributions, and that lifts them up as well, and gives the batting line-up a lot of confidence knowing that these guys can come to the party and take the team over the line,” Prince explained.He continued: “I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do it or a perfect way – I think it’s good not to play a lot of close games, but I think close games definitely help in terms of team morale.”

If Zimbabwe’s last two matches are any indication, the chances of this being a close encounter appear slim. After becoming stars of the tournament with wins over Australia and Sri Lanka, the trip across the Palk Strait brought a rude awakening.

The Sikandar Raza-led unit was taken for 254 runs by West Indies (at Mumbai) and 256 runs by India (at Chennai) – both of which feature in the top 3 totals in T20 World Cup history.“The conditions here in India are different to what they were in Sri Lanka, different pitches and all that. So it took some time for us to adapt. We didn’t adapt as quickly or quickly as we wanted to. And it’s a different pitch. So obviously we weren’t as planful in terms of execution but I still think the players gave their best and gave their best,” Zimbabwe bowling consultant Courtney Walsh said.He continued: “I hope we have benefited a lot from these conditions here for future references and I think one of the things, the biggest takeaway is that how quickly we can adapt in different conditions is one of the things we will take away from this group.”In the group stage, Zimbabwe and Raza stressed the need to take them seriously and respect them. After the last two knocks, the brutality of the sport means they will have to chase it again.