Dwaine Pretorius had not featured for South Africa since the opening game of the World Cup against England.
The all-rounder returned and finished with figures of 3/25 as South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets.
Dwaine Pretorius felt like an outsider, stuck on the sidelines as South Africa’s World Cup went wrong but he was integral again on Friday as they claimed a morale-boosting win over Sri Lanka.
The all-rounder had not featured for the Proteas since their tournament opener almost a month ago at the Oval, where he finished wicketless and ran himself out for a duck in their defeat to England.
But he returned in Durham for the already-eliminated South Africa and claimed the man of the match award after taking 3/25 with the ball to set up a nine-wicket win.
The 30-year-old produced the most economical ten overs of the tournament so far, and admitted afterwards that the wait had been starting to get to him.
“I found out yesterday before training (I was in the team), normally I do train quite hard and they asked me: ‘please don’t do that, you will not have energy for the game.’
“I’m glad they did that, I didn’t expect to be playing, I just tried to do what I normally do, be consistent and accurate and hit top of off as often as possible.
“It is a really weird feeling (not being in the team), there are a few of us sitting close to the field, we chat about it.
“It is a tough situation but the players and the group look after us nicely. We were never made to feel like outsiders, even though in your mind you do feel like an outsider because you are not getting opportunities to play.”
Indeed Pretorius feared he had blown his chance: “I hoped (I would get back in), but the seven overs for 42 probably didn’t get me out of the team, it was probably me running myself out! With a great fall, not even a dive. That was what killed me.
“But at the end of the day you have to keep working hard and learn from your mistakes.”
The nine-wicket win was only South Africa’s second of this World Cup – but gives them some hope for the future and their final clash of the tournament with Australia.
Pretorius added: “I am very happy, very happy that we won and that it was a good victory, not just scratching through.
“There are a few more smiles on the faces, but also a few questions like: ‘why now?’”
“There is a t20 World Cup coming, I desperately want to play in that and hopefully this one in four years time in 2023.
“I want to keep myself strong and work on my skills to carve out a niche for myself as the most consistent bowler and hopefully contribute with the bat as well.”
(International Cricket Council)
