2023 Cricket World Cup: What time do Proteas play Sri Lanka?
The Proteas need a strong start to their 2023 Cricket World campaign in order to stand a chance of making it to the semi-finals.
The Proteas start their ICC Cricket World Cup journey this Saturday against Sri Lanka in Lucknow, India.
The match, which is a day game, will start at 10:30. The match will be broadcast on DStv Channel 201 and Sabc 3.
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In their eight attempts to win the World Cup, the Proteas have always fallen short and are yet to win the tournament or even play in a final.
PROTEAS STILL HAVE THE CHOKING TAG TO DEAL WITH
In 1999, the team came close to reaching the final but a miscommunication between Allan Donald and Lance Klusener saw the Proteas exit the tournament in the semi-finals. After the match, the South African national cricket team were labelled chokers, a tag that has stayed with them until this day.
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Proteas batman David Miller though says the team are not chokers.
“I genuinely believe that we’re not chokers,” Miller was quoted on ESPNcricinfo ahead of their World Cup opener.
“How that tag affects people is an individual thing, but it’s never, ever bothered me.”
“Obviously there’s been history and there’s been games that we’ve not played well in that have let us down. But I would never say the ‘chokers’ tag applies to us, although that’s what everyone says.” he added.
Proteas go into the tournament as the fourth rank team and having defeated Australia 3-2 on home soil, Temba Bavuma’s men are high in confidence. The biggest hurdle could be the Indian pitch conditions.
“A lot of the teams have guys who played in India, have done well in India,” said Bavuma.
“I think all we could do is for the guys who have that experience and knowledge, they can share it among the team or use it in terms of our strategies and plans,” said the Proteas captain.