South Africa head into the T20 World Cup semifinal as the tournament’s only unbeaten side, and rather than deflecting expectations, Head Coach Shukri Conrad is leaning into them. Speaking at the post-match press conference following South Africa’s win over Zimbabwe in their final Super 8 fixture, Conrad made it clear that the Proteas are comfortable carrying the favourites label into their March 4 clash against New Zealand.
‘There’s always pressure’ — but no change in approach
The semifinal comes on the back of a dominant run that included convincing victories over India and New Zealand earlier in the tournament. Yet Conrad was quick to downplay the idea that external narratives would alter the team’s preparation.
“There’s always pressure. I think it’s what you do with that pressure and how you shift the pressure. As for the C word, I think there’s another one for it, cupcakes. I thought we kind of enjoyed that,” he said at the post-match press conference following the win over Zimbabwe in the final Super 8 game.
The remark was a tongue-in-cheek response to a broadcaster promo that played on South Africa’s long-standing ‘chokers’ tag — a label the side has been attempting to shed in recent years.
Conrad stressed that knockout cricket carries its own intensity, irrespective of branding.
“But no, there’s always pressure, and it’s really about embracing that pressure. And we don’t do things any differently. We’re going to prepare exactly the same way for New Zealand,” he added.
Unbeaten run fuels favourites conversation
South Africa’s consistency has made them a leading contender for the title, a shift from previous tournaments where the team often entered as dark horses rather than front-runners.
“Whether we start as favourites, probably because we’re the only unbeaten side in the competition. But I don’t know if that adds to the pressure. I think the semi-final is pressure enough,” Conrad said.
“Playing a top side New Zealand is pressure enough. So there’s no added pressure and I’m glad that we’re favourites because I always felt that as a South African team, you want to be able to play as a favourite because it’s easy being an underdog,” he explained.
Managing expectations, chasing history
South Africa were runners-up in the previous edition and have built steadily through this campaign, navigating a high-pressure group stage — including a double Super Over against Afghanistan — before cruising through the Super 8 phase.
For Conrad, expectation management is part of the equation, but not something the team actively dwells on.
“The expectation isn’t great or that much. And now we’ve assumed the tag which we don’t really talk much about. But if we can continue doing what we’re doing, then yeah, you need a little bit of luck along the way as well,” he noted.
Luck, preparation and clarity of mindset — in Conrad’s view, that is the formula.
“And yeah, hopefully that will give us the result on Wednesday and then on to our home ground in Ahmedabad (for the final),” he said.
