Publications
Partners
Manchester - Proteas allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo says that Friday's win over Sri Lanka in Durham was "long overdue".
It was just South Africa's second win of the 2019 World Cup in what was their eighth outing, and while it will not change the fact that the Proteas are eliminated from the competition, it at least restores an element of pride to what has been a dismal campaign so far.
It has been the most testing of times for the Proteas and their leadership, with the criticism from back home in South Africa understandably brutal.
From the moment they lost to tournament hosts England on May 30, things have been falling apart for the South Africans.
Losses to Bangladesh, India, New Zealand and Pakistan then followed, and the Proteas were mathematically eliminated despite having two pool matches still to play.
Skipper Faf du Plessis admitted after the Pakistan loss at Lord's that things were becoming "embarrassing", but to their credit the Proteas did manage to pick themselves up for Sri Lanka.
The ease with South Africa won at The Riverside is obviously frustrating given how poor they have been throughout the rest of their time in England.
"We owed it to the country and ourselves," Phehlukwayo said.
"We've been working really hard and it just hasn't gone our way. A performance like that was long overdue."
The 23-year-old added that despite the poor performances, the squad had remained positive.
"The dressing room has been very confident," he said.
"We can't fault the effort. The guys are really trying and we have been giving our all in all of the performances but we've just fallen short at times.
"To see a performance like that today is really nice to see for the country's sake. I don't think we've been far off. I think we've just lost games in patches and that's something you can't do in international cricket."
The Proteas are next in action when they take on Australia in Manchester in July 6.
They are currently enjoying a few days off before that match, which will be their final participation at the World Cup.
@LloydBurnard is in England covering the 2019 Cricket World Cup for Sport24 ...
