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

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Sharjah, November 7: South Africa captain Temba Bavuma described his side's T20 World Cup 2021 campaign as a "bittersweet" one after the Proteas crashed out of the tournament despite beating England by 10 runs in their final Super 12 match in Sharjah on Saturday (November 6).

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 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."