Though South Africa drew all the praise for what seemed like a fairly comfortable victory over the USA in their Super Eight clash in the T20 World Cup on Wednesday, with two overs to go the result was still in the balance.
The USA needed 28 runs from 12 balls, when Kagiso Rabada (3/18) was charged with stepping up and delivering the penultimate over of the match.
Deliver he did, as he first picked up a wicket with the opening ball of the over to remove the the well-set Harmeet Singh for 38 from just 22 balls. The leader of the Proteas bowling attack pulled off three more dot balls in an over that went for just two runs.
It was the clincher, as USA needed 26 runs from the final over of the match. Anrich Nortje provided the finishing touches, as South Africa claimed an 18-run victory after posting an imposing 194/4.
Actions speak louder
What Rabada showed with his final over, is that he was ready to take on the responsibility of winning a World Cup game for South Africa in a pressure situation.
His actions revealed more about the current mental state of the South African team than perhaps his words did afterwards, when he was asked how the Proteas will handle the nerves of World Cup knockout games.
“There’s no point thinking about it,” said Rabada.
“We take it game by game, and the belief is there. If you don’t have the belief, you might as well go pack your bags and go home. Whatever happens after that, happens. But the belief is there.”
The 29-year-old Rabada also did not appear to have any words of wisdom on how he was able to produce such a high quality 19th over, or he may have been keeping his cards close to his chest as England lie in wait on Friday.
“It’s just an over, right? Everything else is out of your control. You have a ball in your hand, or a bat hand in your hand. Then that’s what you’re controlling. You’re not controlling the wind, what the crowd says. It’s just about one ball at a time.”