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Durban - Stand-in Proteas T20 captain, Justin Ontong, says his squad is motivated to finish the T20 international series against the West Indies with a win.
Watch: Ontong on what is means to captain the Proteas
The West Indies hold an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, with the final showdown set for Kingsmead on Wednesday evening.
“This is a big game for us, we owe it to ourselves,” Ontong said to the media on Tuesday. “We have been playing good cricket, we have just been unlucky not to get past the final hurdle. We as a team are desperate to get a win under our belt. 2-1 sounds better than 3-0 so we want to go out there and make our fans and nation proud. We are going to fight hard tomorrow.”
Ontong led the Cape Cobras to the RAM SLAM T20 Challenge title this season and said captaining his country is a challenge he is looking forward to take on.
“What a privilege, I’m just honoured,” he said emotionally. “Faf played an exceptional innings the other night, he led all the way. He obviously needs a bit of rest before the one-day series. I’m just privileged to be captain of my country, it’s a dream come true. This is probably the proudest moment of my cricket career.”
The 35-year-old hopes for an improved performance in the field, which ought to curb the big-hitting Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels.
“We have been playing some good cricket throughout the series,” he said. “We have our plans in place and what let us down was probably our execution with the ball. Our batting has been really good, so I’m hoping for another strong performance tomorrow and hopefully everything clicks.”
