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After suffering another semi-final exit, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma felt if the target was around 350, they would have backed themselves to chase down the total against New Zealand in the ongoing Champions Trophy.
South Africa's undying love affair with exit in the semi-finals continued after New Zealand flawlessly orchestrated a 50-run victory to confirm their trip to Dubai at the cost of Proteas' dreams. The beleaguered South African side found itself in a position to reshape history after New Zealand scored a record 362/6, the highest total in the tournament's history. Bavuma admitted that the Blackcapas had gone past the par total with their blitzkrieg. He felt if they had managed to contain New Zealand to 350, they would have "backed themselves" to chase the score. "I do think it was above par. Probably, if it was 350, we would have backed ourselves to chase the score. We had one or two partnerships today, but we needed me or Rassie to go on and emulate what two of their batters did. They really put us under pressure from the word go, the way they were able to pierce the off-side at the start and the way they played in the middle overs," Bavuma said in the post-match presentation. New Zealand exuded dominance with the bat on the back of blistering centuries from seasoned star Kane Williamson (102) and young prodigy Rachin Ravindra (108). With a mix of talent and experience, the duo raised a 164-run stand, setting the stage for Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips to flex their brute strength and lift the Kiwis to the record total. "Kudos to them, credit to their batters, Rachin and Williamson and even the batters who came in, Mitchell and Phillips. We were 125/1, and Rassie and I were still batting," Bavuma added. When South Africa began its quest to achieve the unthinkable, Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen combined to add 105 runs to keep it a neck-and-neck affair. With signs hinting that the game would go right down to the wire, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santer took the mantle of forcing the breakthrough. In the battle of captains, Santner took the bragging rights by outwitting Bavuma and opening the floodgates. While lamenting the way he got dismissed, Bavuma felt that if the Proteas had been more decisive at that moment, they might have had a chance to turn the result around in their favour. "Like I said in the beginning, like I mentioned that we were 125/1, we had to be more decisive, not give an opportunity for the opposition to come back and be ruthless. We needed to take care of the key moments in the game," he said. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to set that foundation for them. A bit of a soft dismissal for me and a better dismissal for Rassie, and we left too much for them in the end," he added. (ANI)
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