South Africa have their backs to the wall at the ICC World Cup after just a solitary win from their first five matches. They have been pushed into a situation where every game is a ‘must-win’ for them starting with the match against New Zealand at Edgbaston on Wednesday (June 19).
Former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis believes it’s time for the team’s biggest players to perform if they hope to make the semifinals of the tournament.
“It’s time for South Africa’s biggest players to rise to the occasion — four times in a row. I played in five World Cups so I’ve been through the full spectrum of responsibility from junior players to senior players and I know that it is up to the captain and his more experienced players to lead from the front,” Kallis wrote in his column for TOI newspaper.
“The Proteas need to beat New Zealand today and then Pakistan and Sri Lanka before facing Australia in their final group and they need to win them all just to stand a chance of reaching the semifinals and then net run-rate might even come into it.
“At least they know what they need to do and will still believe – for now, their fate is in their own hands. That’s where guys like Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir will have to be at their best,” the former South African all-rounder wrote.
