Kyle Verreynne on hitting South Africa's winning runs in WTC Final: ‘Had told David I hope we don't end up batting tomorrow!'
There are all those LinkedIn motivational rip-offs taken from sport. And all those definitions of being 'clutch'. And then there are Kyle Verreynne and David Bedingham, who actually put the finishing touches on that victory for South Africa against Australia in the WTC final.
At dinner on the eve of what turned out to be the final and 4th day of the final, the duo had sat for dinner and spoken about how they wanted to enjoy the Proteas win from the Lord's balcony. Their mindset that night – hope we don't have to bat.
Come Day 4, and Aiden Markram almost had South Africa home, but fell with 6 runs to go. Out jaunted the merry-pippeny Kyle Verreynne, a prodigious talent, but with adventure coursing in his veins – reflected in the worried faces of Temba 'Lord's' Bavuma, Shukri Conrad, JP Duminy and Ashwell Prince, as well as Smith & AB on assorted spots at Lord's.
Then Verreynne went for a scoop, saved by Australia running out of their reviews. Too many times in too many matches, has South Africa batting contrived to lose. Talking to sacricketmag.com, Verreynne explained, 'Honestly, I have no answer, I don't know what happened. We needed one run with five wickets in hand so I kind of knew the job was done. There was a rush of emotions, they got the better of me, but thankfully we got it done in the end.'
At the other end was a considerably calmer David Bedingham, top scorer from first innings, and someone Verreynne called as his 'best mate in cricket.'
Before Markram, Bavuma and Stubbs had departed and Cummins' men are not known to throw in the towel. Verreynne told sacricketmag.com, that he and Bedingham had planned to watch their side's victory from the iconic home team's balcony at Lord's pavilion.
Having to get the win themselves- no matter.
'We were sitting at dinner last night with a couple of beers and both David and I looked across the table and said, 'I hope we don't end up batting tomorrow!' he was quoted as saying by sacricketmag.com. 'When we were out there hitting the winning runs, that was quite a cool moment and made it really special,' he added.
South Africa have one of the strongest schools cricket system and the two have known each other for long. 'David and I have had a long journey, slightly different paths, but we have gone through our professional career together and batted at school together. To be on this stage and get the job done with my best friend in cricket is really, really special,' he added.
Though Australia were the overwhelming favourites, what was missed by many tuning in, was how their batsmen had tuned up for the final by playing County cricket. Verreynne turned out for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship, while Bedingham was camped at Durham.
Verreynne told sacricketmag.com that the team was mighty chilled about getting to the target. 'I was very nervous, but not from the point of view of getting the job done,' Verreynne explained. 'Coming here this morning, everyone had that nervousness that comes with excitement. We all knew we were probably going to get the job done, especially the way we've been playing over the last couple of years,' he added.
The world doubted them through the 2023-2025 cycle, but the Proteas themselves didn't bother with worries. 'How we are as a group, there were no doubt we were going to get across the line. We had that nervous energy and now we can celebrate. There was a lot of nerves, but they were good nerves,' he said.
'I don't think anyone would have expected, two years ago when the cycle started, for us to be in this position. But for us as a team, it's really incredible. Then you think about what it means to people in our country, for them, it's really special too,' he told sacricketmag.com.
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