The Proteas can avoid another collapse in a semifinal at next year’s home World Cup by understanding how the players managed to thrive during last year’s World Test Championship (WTC) final, says Enoch Nkwe, Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) director of cricket.
“We should look at the WTC and ask ourselves: ‘What did we do right?’ There was extreme pressure, the wicket was not easy, but [Aiden] Markram got a hundred, Temba [Bavuma] pulled through with fifty, KG [Rabada] performed well, Lungi [Ngidi] bounced back,” he said.
“We need to zone in on what triggers those players to perform well in those moments.”
South Africa’s failure in the knockout stage of ICC limited-overs tournaments saw its newest iteration in Kolkata, India, where the Proteas were blown away in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup by New Zealand.
It was the 12th time a South African men’s team had lost in the match before the final. Only twice have they won a semifinal.
We’re no push-offs
However, Nkwe doesn’t believe the added pressure and scrutiny of a home World Cup in 2027 will hamper the Proteas should they be faced with another semifinal. “We didn’t achieve our objective in this tournament, but it doesn’t push us off course for 2027,” said Nkwe, who was with the team in India.
“We won’t allow this [disappointment] to hold us back. Of course, we will dive deeply into what could impact us negatively in the next 20 months. We will have to look at that. There are certain situations that maybe we can do better.”
We didn’t achieve our objective in this tournament, but it doesn’t push us off course for 2027
— CSA director of cricket, Enoch Nkwe
A full debrief of the tournament — in which the Proteas won seven out of eight matches before the semifinal — will take place after the short tour to New Zealand that starts next week, but Nkwe says recent evidence suggests progress has been made.
“It’s not a skill factor. It comes back to our mindset in key moments. We have been working hard at that within our system.”
“We may need upskilling in certain areas, and this winter presents us with an opportunity to address some of the issues. Once we’ve had the debrief on this tournament, we can then actually look at issues individually and collectively going into next summer.”
World Cup lessons
“There are lessons out of this T20 World Cup (for 2027), even though it is a different format. The manner in which we lost the (semifinal) is something we need to revisit and ask: ‘How do we ensure we don’t make the same mistakes, if we find ourselves in a similar situation?’
“We are continuing to unpack that [and] look at a potentially new approach, especially mentally to ensure we give ourselves the best chance to overcome what has been a hurdle before.”
He called next summer a defining season for the players and coaching staff, which will determine whether they are ready for the 2027 showpiece.
South Africa will face Australia, Bangladesh, and England, with the defence of their WTC title in two high-profile Test series needing to be balanced with the preparation for the World Cup.
In addition to eight Tests (two against Bangladesh and three each against the Australians and English), the Proteas will also play nine ODIs next season. “We will be cutting down the pool of players and narrowing it down towards 2027,” said Nkwe.
Strong stability in ODIs
“This coming summer you will see — barring injuries — a smaller group of players chosen. Come the end of the summer, we want to make sure we’ve built strong stability in the ODI format.
“Players will need to build confidence as a unit, create combinations, and solidify their own positions. We’re narrowing it down so that next summer, at the end of December, we’re very confident with our 20 players.”
Nkwe reiterated that the belief among the players and head coach Shukri Conrad remained firm.
“If we’d not won the WTC, or not reached the T20 World Cup final two years ago, I’d tell you right now, [winning the 2027 World Cup] will be a serious mountain to climb.
“But we’ve put ourselves in a position in the last three years where we are disappointed, because of the opportunities we’ve had to be champions in the white ball formats. We’ve done a lot of things right. But we will continue to be hard on ourselves, because we want great things for SA cricket.”
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