T20 World Cup 2021: It was bittersweet ending for us, says South Africa skipper Bavuma

The
Proteas,
who
had
scored
189
for
2
after
being
sent
in
to
bat,
needed
to
restrict
England
to
131
to
overtake
Australia
in
net
run
rate
and
qualify
for
the
semifinals
but
it
was
not
to
be
their
day.

England,
Australia
and
South
Africa
ended
on
eight
points
each
but
the
first
two
teams
made
it
to
the
semifinals
as
they
had
better
net
run
rate
than
South
Africa
(NRR
+0.739)
who
were
knocked
out.
England
(NRR
+2.464)
topped
Group
1
while
Australia
(NRR
+1.216),
who
beat
West
Indies
earlier
in
the
day,
finished
second.

“Win
was
important,
but
a
bittersweet
ending
for
us.
Achieved
what
we
wanted
to
do
in
terms
of
winning,
but
didn’t
win
well
enough.
We
gave
our
all
with
the
bat
and
with
the
ball,”
Bavuma
said
at
the
post-match
presentation.

“Start
of
the
tournament
it
(net
run
rate)
wasn’t
a
big
factor,
we
felt
we
wanted
to
win
the
game.
Tough
to
bring
NRR
into
effect
in
our
last
game,
especially
against
a
side
like
England.
But
very
proud
of
the
side
and
think
there’s
a
lot
we
can
take
away
from
this,”
he
said.

“We’ve
got
to
build
on
the
confidence
and
momentum,
this
will
give
us
experience
and
learnings
we
can
take
from
this
World
Cup
going
forward.”

South
Africa
beat
England
by
10
runs
but
crash
out
of
T20
World
Cup
on
net
run
rate

South
Africa
batter
Rassie
van
der
Dussen,
who
was
adjudged
man-of-the-match
for
his
unbeaten
94
off
60
balls,
was
disappointed
that
all
his
efforts
went
in
vain.

“In
the
context
it
doesn’t
mean
too
much,
we
knew
we
had
to
get
a
good
score
on
the
board
and
we’ve
asked
a
lot
from
the
bowlers,
it
was
probably
too
much
to
get
us
into
the
semis.

“But
still
a
good
performance
beating
a
good
side.
Type
of
wicket
where
if
you
get
in,
you’re
a
lot
more
effective.
You
saw
that
at
the
back
of
their
innings.
Aiden
(Markram)
and
I
knew
if
we
took
it
to
the
end
we’d
be
competitive,”
he
said.

“It’s
been
tough,
the
three
venues
are
so
different.
From
a
batting
point
of
view
that’s
been
a
challenge,
and
the
batting
units
that
adapted
the
quickest
have
been
most
successful.”