Faf’s Proteas can only get better
The loss does not mean that we are on our way out of the tournament.
Kagiso Rabada of South Africa (L) celebrates taking the wicket of Chris Woakes of England during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between England v South Africa at The Oval on May 30, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
As a Proteas fan, you have a choice to have “the glass is half full” or “the glass is half empty” attitude.
After Thursday’s klap by England, there are probably many South African cricket lovers who are wavering between the two. The optimists say the 104-run defeat by England in the World Cup opener was against the best team in the world, which was playing with undoubted home ground advantage.
Also, the loss does not mean that we are on our way out of the tournament. Plenty of dramas can still unfold and form books can mean little. On the other hand, we should have, in this modern age of batsmen being king, been able to chase down a reasonable 312 for victory.
That Faf du Plessis and company stuttered to not much over 200 was poor, to be kind. On this newspaper, however, we err on the optimistic side: we shudder at the thought of the Proteas not making the semis, almost as much as we cringe at the thought of having to put a picture on our front page of England or Australia (our arch foes) hoisting that trophy.
Also, we are now underdogs and there is really only one direction we can go from here … up.
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