He fought it out until the end in conditions that weren’t the easiest to bat on, but Rassie van der Dussen’s 64-ball 91 went in vain as the Paarl Royals chased down the target in 19 overs with six wickets in hand. He was out there for the post-match press conference. Excerpts.. 

On upping his strike-rate in the last few seasons 

I think I have taken a conscious decision, especially when I am opening, to put the bowlers under pressure. In the last few years, I have been looked at as the guy who bats through. I have got the game and I feel like doing what guys around the world are doing, hitting boundaries upfront. Against spin, I have worked hard on boundary options. Playing in the T20 leagues has helped me a lot with that. I am going into my latter years now, Faf (du Plessis) is inspiring me, but even he is saying that he is constantly adapting his game and renewing his game, so pretty similar for me. 

On missing out on the 2024 T20 World Cup side 

I’ll be honest, it was a tough one. I have never said I should have been in place of someone, but it was tough. In ICC events you can pick only 15. That is sport. The guys did really well and made us proud. There have been some opportunities for me to go into leagues. Going into the latter part of my career, that’s something I’ll look to do for a few years. My first priority has always been to play for the Proteas. What I don’t know is when that stops. At this stage, I am really not thinking about anything other than just enjoying my cricket. We have a great team at MI Cape Town, I enjoy playing for the Lions domestically. Not looking too far ahead. Just enjoying my time and put in performances. 

On Kwena Maphaka 

He's world class already. He’s got a long way to go. He’s got the raw product, the pace, the left-arm is always a thing, he’s got good change ups, a good bouncer. He almost cleaned me up the other day at Newlands. The challenge for him is to not believe that the hype is too much, but to follow the normal road as a professional cricketer where you come into leagues or come into the national team and still have to perform. It doesn’t matter if you are 18. Reality is hard there. Nobody cares if you are 18, they are going to treat you as an equal. He’s come leaps and bounds last year. He’s a good kid, got a good head on his shoulders. He has guys like Alan Donald and Russell Domingo. The way he is going, he’s going to have a huge future. 

Thoughts on the 158-run total at the halfway stage

I thought our score was probably par. The wind was a factor. I didn’t find the wind as obvious a part of conditions before. You practically take out one boundary. You felt you couldn’t have a look at that boundary again. They took a gamble of it becoming better under lights, which it did. It was a used pitch. The lights played a big role tonight. Speaking to someone, it came on quite nicely under lights. We were probably 10 short of where we wanted to be. We were not on it with the ball, and obviously with the catches. If a guy like Lhuan-dre (Pretorius) gives you chances, you’ve got to take it because otherwise he is going to make you pay. 

Vibe in this year’s squad compared to the last two years 

It feels different in the squad. There is a different vibe. When you do so badly, you learn what not to do. We took those lessons from the first two years to heart. In terms of communication, leadership, an overseas captain coming in, but some of the senior players made a conscious decision to help him out on the field. He was captain two years ago, he didn’t know anyone in the team, didn’t know the conditions. In the first year, it is just guys thrown together and you expect them to play. Before the first match this year, there was a plan to get the communication better to help Rashid out and just be a lot better in all aspects.