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Coach Mark Boucher banks on IPL-bound players to help Proteas 'peak at the right time'

The truncated portion of the Indian Premier League will be played right before the ICC World T20 and the South Africa cricket coach Mark Boucher is banking on players who are set to play in the marquee event. 

He said that the IPL-bound South African players will gather a “bit of information” on the nature of pitches that may be there during the T20 World Cup while playing for their respective franchise in the IPL.

He also said that the team has not peaked yet and hence the team management has spoken to players over their preparation and using their IPL experience to “peak at the right time”.

"We've spoken to the guys going to the IPL. They need to stay quite disciplined and realise we want to peak at the right time as a unit. They'll be picking up bits of information about playing in those conditions that will really get them ready for a big tournament and if they manage themselves well and get some good time in the nets and get used to facilities it will stand us in good stead. It will be a great experience as long as guys look after themselves and peak at the right time,” Boucher said after winning the series 3-0 against Sri Lanka.

South Africa have tasted success in the shortest format at the international stage in the recent past as they have defeated West Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka, but Boucher said that Proteas are still not a “finished product”. However, he expressed optimism that the players are learning from their mistakes and the team is on its path of growth leading up to the ICC World T20.

"This team realised that we are definitely not the finished product, so there's a lot of things we speak about. We had a good chat about the lessons we've learnt and where we want to go as a team. We tied the record for the most T20 wins by a South African team. That was one of the records that we were playing for. We understand that going into a World Cup each game is as important as the others and this becomes a habit. This is just part of the growth of the team,” Boucher added.

The South African players who are not part of the IPL 2021 will head back home to play T20 cricket in the domestic circuit and it should augur well for the players before the big global event.

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'Disappointed' Dawid Malan says Indian bowling attack 'pretty tough' to get used to

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The Caribbean Premier League will witness a new champion getting crowned on Wednesday when St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will be up against Saint Lucia Kings in the final showdown in St Kitts. While the Patriots rode on another Evin Lewis’ show to march into the title clash as they defeated Guyana Amazon Warriors by 7 wickets while chasing a target of 179 runs, the Kings on the other hand beat defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders to make a place for themselves in the finale. While the Patriots team’s batting unit took the onus on itself to take control of the game against Guyana, the bowlers, barring Sheldon Cottrell never really let the opposition take upper hand during the course of the game. Saint Lucia on the other hand, hammered the TKR bowlers all around the park and posted 205/4 in 20 overs, courtesy some fine piece of batting from the middle-order. Mark Deyal’s 44-ball 78 was the highlight on the innings. Later, David Wiese thoroughly dominated the TKR batting order and bagged a second fifer of the tournament to anchor the side to a win by 21 runs. While the two teams that will be facing off in the final marched ahead after winning their respective last encounters quite comfortably in the end but the Kings might have an edge as they won both the league matches against the Patriots and that too in a thumping manner. The first time when the two sides met, regular skipper Faf du Plessis who had missed the side’s semi-final against TKR and the last league match as he was carrying a groin injury, notched up a century and helped his side post a mammoth 224/2 in 20 overs and then the bowlers bundled out Patriots for 124 to win the match by a huge margin of 100 runs. In the next encounter, the Saint Lucia bowlers did the job and bowled the opposition out for just 118 runs. The Kings later chased down the target by 6 wickets after Roston Chase scored an unbeaten half-century. Nevertheless, it’s going to be a fresh start for the sides when they take the field on Wednesday. Match Details Match: SLK vs SNP, Final, Caribbean Premier League 2021 Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts Telecast: Star Sports Network, Fan Code App Team News Saint Lucia Kings: The Kings’ regular skipper Faf du Plessis had missed the last league match and semi-final clash as he was carrying a groin injury. The right-handed batsman’s availability to play the final is still not confirmed and if he doesn’t play then Andre Fletcher will lead the side. Apart from this, Roston Chase will play a key role in this final show. He has been among runs in the competition and the team management would want him to continue with his form with the willow. The middle-order looks pretty stable while the bowlers, especially David Wiese, are in some good touch. Moreover, he would be riding high on confidence after picking up a fifer and chipping in with some runs at the end of the innings in the all important semi-final. Patriots: Patriots’ openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis and captain Dwayne Bravo did the job for them in the previous game. Lewis has had a superb run in this CPL 2021 and the team would seek another positive start from him at the top of the order. Pitch Report The last two matches at St Kitts saw some huge amount of runs being scored. The track had something on offer for the batsmen in the semi-finals and the pitch might not see much of a change. So, if you win the toss, bat first and try to post a good total on the board. Probable XI SLK: Andre Fletcher (c & wk), Rahkeem Cornwall, Mark Deyal, Roston Chase, David Wiese, Tim David, Keemo Paul, Kadeem Alleyne, Jeavor Royal, Alzarri Joseph, Wahab Riaz SKNP: Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Dwayne Bravo (c), Fabian Allen, Dominic Drakes, Sheldon Cottrell, Naseem Shah, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Fawad Ahmed Fantasy XI Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis (VC), Mark Deyal, Dwayne Bravo, David Wiese, Roston Chase (C), Dominic Drakes, Wahab Riaz, Fawad Ahmed, Jon-Russ Jaggesar

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South Africa couldn’t have asked for a better preparation for the World T20 2021 as the Proteas completed a clean sweep win against Sri Lanka in a three-match tie on Tuesday. Chasing 121, Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks took the team over the line by 10 wickets in 14.4 overs. Both the batsmen notched up individual fifties during the course. While Hendricks remained unbeaten at 56 off 42, De Kock scored a 46-ball 59*. Earlier, the South African bowling unit never really let the Sri Lankan batting line up take an upper hand and kept picking wickets at regular junctions. Opener Kusal Perera tried to hold the fort from one end but he kept losing partners at the other end and was eventually dismissed for 39 off 33. Karunaratne though played a small cameo at the end of the innings where he struck an unbeaten 24 off 19 as the hosts only managed to put 120/8 in 20 overs. Fortuin and Kagiso Rabada picked up two wickets each for South Africa while Markram, Keshav Maharaj and Mulder had one scalp apiece to their names. South Africa captain Kehsav Maharaj hailed the players for making a comeback in the T20Is after suffering a defeat in the ODI series. “Full credit to the boys, they played really well after losing the ODIs. Good preparation building up to the World Cup. I think from a bowling front, we can look to strive for a better performance in the powerplay,” he said after the match. Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka expressed concern on the batting failure and admitted that this is one department where the team needs to work on. “First of all, a big congratulation to South Africa. Our bowling was good but we need to think again about our batting unit. SA have been outstanding against spin. Not a lot of positives in this series. Hasaranga and Karunaratne are the positives for us,” he said.