After some ‘harsh words’, Proteas aim to hit back against Namibia in tri-series clash

South Africa are hoping to earn their first ever T20 victory over Namibia as they set their sights on this weekend's final. Admitting their loss to Namibia last week was a “rude awakening” for the SA team, captain Bjorn Fortuin believes the Proteas are ready to hit back against the hosts in their crunch clash in Windhoek on Friday (2pm start). With South Africa having lost to Namibia in the first ever game between the two sides last year, the second-string national side were handed another stunning defeat in the opening match of the T20 International tri-series last week. The Proteas had managed to bounce back with two wins over Zimbabwe, climbing to the top of the tri-series standings, and a win against Namibia on Friday would secure their spot in the final to be contested on Sunday. They needed to be on top of their game, however, because another loss to Namibia would mean the teams that progressed to the final would be decided on net run rate. ‘Not too much of a psychological block’ While lower-ranked Namibia were unbeaten against the Proteas, Fortuin believed the SA team could shake off their previous losses and pick up the national squad’s first ever win over their neighbours. “I wouldn’t say there’s too much of a psychological block,” Fortuin said yesterday. “Obviously we want to do fairly well and sort of put in a good performance going into the business end of the series, but in saying that, on both occasions (last year and last week) I do believe we were beaten by the better team (Namibia) for various reasons, whether it be their intensity just being higher than ours or them adjusting to conditions or sort of knowing what to do in those conditions better than we did. “So there are no excuses for those losses and we’ll be looking to rectify that, not only to put in good performances but to have some good momentum going into the last match (on Sunday).” Some ‘straight conversations’ However, though the Proteas were trying not to let last week’s defeat affect their confidence, Fortuin said they did have some tough discussions as a squad in an attempt to ensure they triumphed on Friday and again in this weekend’s T20 tri-series final. “There were some harsh words and a couple of straight conversations that happened, and hopefully those hold us in good stead going into the last couple of games.”