“If everything works out according to plan and stars align, he should be back the day before the semi-finals. So, yeah, that’s what we’re hoping for. But obviously, we’ve got all contingencies covered if it doesn’t happen like that.”
“I mean, Jacob Duffy’s been the one that missed out,” Walter said. “He’s been incredible for us over the last 18 months. So, it’s tough enough leaving him out of the team, really. If it does work out that unfortunately Matt can’t make it back, then absolutely [Duffy comes into contention]. [We have] very capable people sitting on the bench, Kyle Jamieson [for example]. So, we’ve got those bases covered, no doubt.”
“It just takes one bad day for a team that’s been playing well. So we need to be ready and play our best cricket”
Walter on the semi-final
“If I’m honest, I only watched the first half, then I decided to read my book for the second half and just check in at a suitable time,” Walter said. “So, fortunately, when I looked at my phone, it was 145 for 5 and I knew there was a good chance that they would score those next three runs. So pretty happy after that.
“Obviously, you’re nervous because you know that it could all be over last evening and you’re sort of heading back home and then in the same breath you’re playing in a semi-final of a World Cup, which is an awesome achievement in itself.”
“It is a great privilege to be part of the top four teams in the world in the T20 format,” Walter said. “I think it’s just a great representation of the work that the boys have put in. We’ve had a few days where our cricket wasn’t as good as we want it to be, but I think we’ve played some great cricket that’s given us this opportunity to be in the semi-final. So, I’m proud of each and every one of the boys.”
“They [South Africa] have played exceptionally good cricket in the World Cup thus far,” Walter said. “Look, we faced them in Ahmedabad, which I think is a venue that they’ve grown pretty used to given that they’ve spent a fair bit of time there. So the semi-finals will be in a different venue, it will provide a different challenge.
“That really suits us because it gives us an opportunity to adapt to those conditions pretty quickly, which is something we’ve done well and do well. So whilst they’ve been playing very good cricket, we obviously believe that we can beat them. It just takes one bad day for a team that’s been playing well. So we need to be ready and play our best cricket.”