Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): South Africa have started their 2023 World Cup campaign by comfortably winning the first two games. However, South African pacer Kagiso Rabada stressed that there is a long way to go in the marquee tournament and the side is concentrating on one game at a time. South Africa, who have the 'chokers' tag, started their campaign with a 102-run win over Sri Lanka in New Delhi, in which Quinton De Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram slammed hundreds.
In the game against Australia, they rode on Quinton De Kock's blistering hundred to record a 134-run win on Thursday. South Africa are at the top of the points table currently. "We're still a long way away but there are plenty of positives to take. So, that's a good thing but we're looking to rock up the next game. We'll see how we feel, we want to improve, look at our strengths, look at our weaknesses and look to brush up," Rabada told reporters at the post-match press conference.
"But generally, I think we played nearly the perfect game of cricket. So, it's just about leaving this behind. Once we leave that behind and focus is on the next game, that's it," the 28-year-old pacer added. The Proteas ticked all the boxes against five-time champions Australia at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee 'Ekana' Stadium.
"Looking at every game there's always areas to improve. We were cognizant of the fact that we did slack off in certain areas in the previous game. But there will always be areas to improve in the game of cricket, but we'll do our analysis and we'll see how we want to move forward," he added. The Temba Bavuma-led side next takes on the Netherlands at Dharamsala on Tuesday, October 17.
Rabada tore apart Australia's middle-order claiming the vital scalps of Steve Smith, Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis. Two of those wickets came from controversial reviews. Rabada trapped Steve Smith leg before with the on-field umpire ruling it not out but on reviewing it, ball tracking technology showed it was hitting the leg stump.
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"Well, I was hoping for the umpire call.' I felt as if it just skidded through, and didn't really bounce much. And as you know, Steve walks across his stumps. That's just his trigger. "And it just, from my angle and from Quinny's (Quinton De Kock) angle it looked quite good and we decided to go up and yeah, the technology favoured us today but I thought it was close. I don't think it was as obvious as missing," he added.
Rabada found himself amidst controversy again when he had Stoinis caught behind off the bottom glove. However, there was a lot of confusion on whether Stoinis' top and bottom hands were connected to the bat. "I initially thought it hit his thigh pad and my teammates around me felt that they heard a woody sound. And you know, Stoinis didn't look so convincing. I think he looked as if...he felt as if he touched it.
"I guess the controversy was around the fact that his hand was off the bat when the ball made contact with his glove. But we thought it was the bat handle. Again, that's not up to us. We reviewed it and the umpires made a decision," he concluded.
