3 April 2014
Cricket South Africa has congratulated the national men’s and women’s squads for reaching the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. The men will take on India, and the women England, in Dhaka on Friday, watched by a massive global television audience.
“Like the West Indies, we can be very proud of both our teams having qualified for the semi-finals,” Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Coming on top of our recent triumph in the ICC under-19 World Cup, these results are just reward for the tremendous efforts put in by many people in our national cricket system and reflects the healthy state of the game in South Africa.”
“Our Proteas have always been among the world’s elite, and it is highly encouraging that our women are proving their worth too,” Lorgat said.
“There have been a number of reasons for their growth, not least being the support of team sponsor Momentum, which enabled us to award ground-breaking national contracts to the senior players.”
Proteas captain Faf du Plessis congratulated the women’s side on their breakthrough. “Congratulations to the Momentum Women’s Proteas on making the semi-finals,” he said. “It’s a fantastic achievement against quality opposition and in tough conditions.
“They showed a lot of character and determination, something that is synonymous with this special Proteas brand. I hope we can both do the country proud in our respective semi-finals on Friday,” Du Plessis said.
“It’s not often that South Africa has such a strong presence in a World Cup, so it’s a really proud moment for our country.
SAinfo reporter
