Remaining calm will be key for the Proteas during Thursday’s ICC T20 World Cup semi-final against Afghanistan in Trinidad & Tobago.

In the early hours of tomorrow morning the Proteas will be in action against a very tricky opponent in Afghanistan, and one of these teams will reach a World Cup final for the very first time.

The Proteas go into the crunch match as one of only two unbeaten teams, after having won all seven matches today, albeit that one or two were by the skin of their teeth.

What South Africa has done really well at the T20 World Cup is convert the tight games into wins, and this is something they haven’t really managed in the past. In previous World Cups in both white-ball formats, more often than not the Proteas would stumble in big games.

A lot of this has got to do with the calmness that the captain, Aiden Markram, brings with his style of leadership.

Markram, told OFM Sport that while it sometimes seems calm, it’s not always the case, but it’s important to portray that it’s also a case of following through with what they have committed to.

“I think inside the mind is going pretty quickly and sometimes all over the place,” said Markram.

“But you don't want to rub that off on players. I think the old cliché of a bad plan that you commit to is no better than a good plan that you're not really committed to.

“So, I'm committing to do something while we're out there, and like I've mentioned with us having been together now for quite some time, we all have a lot of trust in each other and decision making. Whether it's the right one or the wrong one, either way we committed to it as a team. I think that helps a lot.

“Calmness, I suppose sometimes things look calmer than what it is out there in the middle. But ultimately, if you can keep calm it allows you to think pretty clearly and come up with some decent plans that hopefully can make a positive impact on the game.”

The semi-final between South Africa and Afghanistan is scheduled to start at 2:30am on Thursday.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport