Contribution to the side more important than personal milestone, says man-of-the-match Duminy, who fell one run short of a century against Ireland yesterday
Contribution to the side more important than personal milestone, says man-of-the-match Duminy, who fell one run short of a century against Ireland yesterday
South African skipper Graeme Smith was more relieved than happy following his side's 131-run victory against Ireland which sealed their berth in the quarter-finals here yesterday.
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"It's fantastic to make it to the last eight. Our group (Group B) was getting a bit tense, so it's nice to get it over and make it there first," Smith said after the victory at the Eden Gardens last night. "The tension is over for us. We are going to Dhaka to play Bangladesh (on March 19) with a free mind," he added. Yesterday, the Proteas were struggling at one stage at 117-5.u00a0 But the middle and lower order came to the rescue with JP Duminy top scoring with 99. Smith was happy that all his batsmen have been among runs. "It is definitely a positive thing. Against India also our middle-order and lower middle-order batsmen got the runs and we won the match," he said. "It's a positive thing for a team when in every match somebody contributes. In the quarter-final stage, it will help us."u00a0u00a0
Duminy was not disappointed at falling one short of a century. "I must say it was one of my better innings. But I was more concerned about contributing for the team rather than achieving any personal milestone. In that respect I am happy to have come good for my team. I just tried to stay in the middle and put up a partnership.
(Colin) Ingram also played a good supporting role in spite of not being fully fit."
Ingram scored 46 from 43 balls and put on 87 runs for the sixth wicket with Duminy.
Meanwhile, Irish captain William Porterfield was disappointed with the defeat.u00a0 "This was our last hope to make any progress in the tournament. But we were unable to put up a good partnership and hence were never in the chase," he said.
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