South Africa lost Wednesday’s Champions Trophy semi-final against New Zealand by 50 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan.
New Zealand posted 362 for six. South Africa replied with 312 for nine. The Proteas bowled 14 overs of spin. New Zealand bowled 28.
Left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was in South Africa’s squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy, but did not play a match.
“If you look at conditions again, Shamsi is definitely a much more effective option on those kind of surfaces given the fact that the seamers were really skidding on and the batters enjoy the ball coming onto the bat,” former Proteas seamer Vernon Philander told ESPNcricinfo.
“I think it’s a conversation that needs to start at the top, the management needs to be part of it. I think we need to be challenged differently. For far too long, we persist with ‘seamers are going to win you the game’ irrespective of whether it’s at home or in the sub-continent.
“Here it was illustrated again. Had we brought spin on earlier in the powerplay, we could have curbed Ravindra Ravindra from getting off to an absolute flyer at the start. Those are little things that you have to put into play.
“You can’t just play one brand of cricket and hope for results to go your way. Conditions these days play a massive factor in all outcomes of cricket matches and you have to factor in conditions. I don’t think you can be naïve and say that we will go with our four seamers and boss a game in the sub-continent.
“This is not our first tour to the sub-continent. There have been generations that have been here before. It is certainly time, from a leadership point of view, we start taking accountability, and for generations to come, what’s going to be effective touring the sub-continent? And certainly in the spin department, we also have to then make sure we produce the quality and calibre of spinners to win you games in the sub-continent.”
Captain Temba Bavuma returned to the Proteas XI after missing last week’s win over England due to illness. Bavuma hit a half-century against New Zealand. Middle-order batsman David Miller hit a ton.
“I think Temba is a fantastic leader. I think what he has done over the last 24 months is that he has started to win that change room over. I think he’s done phenomenally well in the Test match arena and I don’t think we play nearly enough ODI cricket to play judgement down on it.
“But if you look at his numbers, you look at his records in ODI cricket, I think he has been a wonderful player for South Africa. I think he has led from the front with the bat.
“They were heavily reliant on his form to get South Africa to where they are – obviously falling one hurdle short of another final.”
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