As only a South African could say, Proteas’ fast bowler Kagiso Rabada summed up what the team faced at the start of the second and final Test against New Zealand. The team had to “wake up, get up and run…” The fact that the players managed to do just that – after a solid beating in the first test, coupled with 10 days of Covid isolation – testified to what Rabada called their “resilience”. † That resilience, or real grit if you will, is what can lead a team to achieve more than would be expected of them,…
As only a South African could say, Proteas’ fast bowler Kagiso Rabada summed up what the team faced at the start of the second and final Test against New Zealand.
The team had to “wake up, get up and run…” The fact that the players managed to do just that – after a solid beating in the first test, coupled with 10 days of Covid isolation – testified to what Rabada called their “resilience”. †
That resilience, or real grit if you will, is what can lead a team to achieve more than would be expected of them, “on paper”.
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That’s what happened in the series against India, which ended earlier this year. After the first test, the Proteas were written off, even by loyal fans. But they hit back.
The same happened in New Zealand. And perhaps the best news of that big second Test win was that new blood – like youngsters Lutho Sipamla and Kyle Verreynne and Test debutant Sarel Erwee – were in charge.
That depth and variety of talent, coupled with a never-say-die attitude, means the Proteas are back where they belong, with the best in the world.