‘Hollow’ feeling after Proteas beat Sri Lanka
Has winning a World Cup match ever meant so little for the Proteas?
Their resounding nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at Chester-Le-Street was a painful reminder of just how potent this team can be.
Dwaine Pretorius who replaced Lungi Ngidi was the stand-out bowler with figures of 3-25 while Chris Morris’s continued his good form, grabbing three scalps of his own.
South Africa win!
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 28, 2019
An unbeaten partnership of 175 between Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis sees South Africa to a comfortable nine-wicket win.#SLvSA | #CWC19 | #ProteaFire pic.twitter.com/4SKGMPT0fV
In response, Proteas captain Faf du Plessis (96*) and Hashim Amla (80*) put on a 175-run partnership to guide South Africa to an easy win in the end.
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Du Plessis said the victory left a ‘hollow' feeling.
“It's great winning, obviously, but it is very, very bittersweet because you know that we've let a lot of people down and that was never the plan,” Du Plessis said.
“I think when you go back, there will still be that hollow feeling of stuff that could have been in this tournament,” he added.
Du Plessis says the World Cup is more competitive than it has ever been before, adding that small margins have been their overall downfall.
“The crazy thing about this World Cup, it's been a remarkable tournament where different teams on their day can beat anyone, and it shows you that if you are not on top of your game, in international cricket, the margins are so small,” Du Plessis concluded.
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