20 October - Mumbai - South Africa Captain Temba Bavuma pre-match press conference
[Reporter:]
You said after the Netherlands game that you needed to allow the hurt to seep in. How has the “seepage” process progressed in the last few days?
[Temba Bavuma:]
I do think it's progressed. We've had hard conversations as a team, obviously looking at our performances and where things went bad for us from a batting, bowling, even from a fielding point of view. We've put that behind us. We’ve obviously got the challenge of England starting and we are, I guess preparing to get ourselves in the right mental state, physically as well, to play our best cricket there.
[Reporter:]
Just to follow on from that, what did you guys do in the days, I mean it hasn't been many days, but in the time that you've had since the Dutch game.
[Temba Bavuma:]
What did we do? We got to Mumbai, explored a little bit of Mumbai. We have obviously spoken about the game from a skills department point of view, what exactly that we need to do to get better. I think we also acknowledge the fact that in the last couple of months, we've played a lot of good cricket. So, I think it's not to overlook that and allow one “blip”, I would say, in our game to override everything that we've done and still keep the confidence in everything that we are doing. I think it's easy to second-guess yourselves, second-guess your processes and your game, so it's not to forget all the good work that we've done.
[Reporter:]
Does the fact that England are coming into this game on the back of a surprise loss as well, do you feel that you're sort of starting level - that neither side's got that much of an advantage in that sense?
[Temba Bavuma:]
You could probably say so. I think both teams will obviously be looking to eradicate that, to deal with whatever issues that they had. I think both teams will be looking to play their best cricket and I think it could be one hell of a game if you've got two teams of this calibre who play close to their best. Obviously, our aim is to stop England from playing close to their best and hopefully the result is in our favour this game.
[Reporter:]
I think it's acknowledged that South Africa have one of the better batting lineups at this tournament, but we saw what happened against the Dutch, the seamers came unstuck in the last part of the innings. How do you come back from that? What did the seamers do to not have that happen again?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I think, like you say - I think the first 30 overs, 35 overs, we were very good as a team. We got them to 140 for 7, if I'm not mistaken. And then that's where things kind of - I guess, the wheels fell off. I think we were put under pressure in the death period. And I think how we've bowled within the death hasn't been at our best. And I guess that's kind of been masked by how well we've bowled in the power play as well as the middle overs.
So, I guess it's just more the mental side of it in those periods, how we're able to still keep that clarity and calmness in what we're doing in those periods. Also, to understand that we're going to get put under pressure in the death again. It's not going to be maybe Netherlands in the play-off games if we get there, but there will be a team that will put us under pressure, so how do we react differently within that period.
And then I think from a batting point of view, probably our biggest misdemeanour as the batters is that we took that negative energy from the field, that momentum that the Netherlands guys had achieved at the end of their innings. We took that into their batting and like I said, there were no partnerships that we were able to put together. And that's been a strength of ours as a team. We don't boast the longest batting lineup, the guys who are at the top, it's important that we set that foundation. That foundation wasn't there. And it became even more of a bigger task for our middle order batter.
So, I think there's specific areas that we've identified that we want to be better at, and that's what we'll be focusing on coming this next game.
[Reporter:]
What do you know about this ground and how do you expect it to play and how do you guys adjust to what you expect?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I think for me, growing up, idolizing a guy like Sachin Tendulkar, Wankhede was a stadium you always heard about. So, to have that opportunity to be playing, that's another tick off my list as a cricketer.
The guys that have played here, JP Duminy, Quinton, they've spoken about how it can be a batter’s paradise. You get value for your shots and the ball seems to travel further.
So, I think as batters it can build a lot of confidence. And if it is your day, you can fill your boots. And I guess just the atmosphere of it all, it being a full ground, it can really be something to enjoy.
I think our real assessment will happen on the day. We'll see what's happening there, and then try to put our best foot forward.
[Reporter:]
Both you and England are coming off defeats against Minnows if I may call them that.
So do you think the non-India matches turnout has been very low. You think you guys can excite the crowds of Mumbai which are actually cricket fans
[Temba Bavuma:]
I'd love to think so. I think if I was a cricket fan, I'd want to be watching South Africa versus England. I think it will be a tightly contested game. It'll be an exciting game. Both teams, I guess, will be looking to prove themselves, if I could say that. There'll be individuals in both camps who are wanting to put their hand up for the team. So, if I was a fan, I'd definitely want to come and watch.
[Reporter:]
Netherlands adopted a very specific plan of spin against the top order in the last game and they succeeded as well. So, do you think that's an area of concern and are you giving any special attention to it or do you think it's not something to worry about?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, look it definitely surprised some of us, that tactic of theirs with the spin. Understanding that the wicket supposedly wasn't favourable towards spin.
With that being said, we had to adapt. Some of us were able to, some of us weren't able to adapt. We know England have also employed that, sometimes bowling the off-spinner at the top, so that's something that we're expecting, whether they go that route. But yeah, it did take some of us by surprise in terms of Netherlands' tactic to keep going longer with the spin and power play.
[Reporter:]
With Ben Stokes likely to play tomorrow, does the make your task of winning the match tomorrow more difficult?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I think a fully fit Ben Stokes obviously does strengthen the England team. He is an X-Factor player. He is the guy that can change the course of the game. He's someone that we've covered in our preparation. We know we're going to have to be at the top of our game to get him unstuck. We have a lot of respect for him, Ben Stokes. We know what he can do, but we'll prepare for him as well as we can.
[Reporter:]
It doesn't happen often that two sports sort of like converge, into like a global product this weekend. But there's a lot of excitement about Super Saturday in South Africa and probably in England a bit. Is that a sort of like a nice extra context to add to what is going to be a crucial battle as well for you guys?
You could probably say so.
A lot of us love our rugby so we'll definitely be supporting the Springboks and I'm sure they'll be supporting us as well.
Do we play first or do they play first?
We play first so I guess the responsibility’s on us to get things going the right way and then obviously we'll be supporting the guys after game.
They actually sent us a message today in our meeting, I guess you know trying to encourage us with our game so yeah, I think as a fan for South Africa, even for England, you obviously will be glued on your screens. And I guess, again, for us as players, we have that responsibility to put smiles on our countrymen's faces, and make sure we go out and entertain, and bring back the win.
[Reporter:]
Quinton De Kock has had a fantastic start to the World Cup and given that he has also played at this ground for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, how much hinges on his experience of the venue given that some of the members in the squad might not be having the knowledge of conditions and the wicket, how it behaves?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, his experience is immense. In our batting chat today, we basically listened to him. He gave the batting chat as to what the conditions are like, what to expect. I mean, for at least a player like myself, who's never played here, you feed off that type of information, that type of intel. And I think obviously with him having the good start, like you said, he'll be looking to build on that. And I'm sure if it's his day, if the conditions allow, I'm sure he'll take it with both hands.