Dane van Niekerk responds strongly to Indian fans affronted by ‘free pass’ comment
South Africa Women captain Dane van Niekerk has responded strongly to a few Indian fans who took it as an affront her claim that she preferred losing the T20 World Cup semi-final than getting a “free pass” to the final.
The first semi-final between India and England was washed out in Sydney, meaning India qualified for the final on account of their league stage finish, while in the second semi-final, South Africa narrowly lost out to Australia in a rain-curtailed encounter.
Later, when asked if she’d wondered what would have been had the second semi-final been washed out too – South Africa stood to go through had that been the case – she said, “we’re here to play cricket”.
“I am not going to sit and lie and say, ‘you don’t think about it,'” said van Niekerk. “I have to give credit to the groundstaff; they did absolutely everything to keep us on the park. And we are here to play cricket. I’d rather lose than get a free pass into the World Cup final.”
However, when ESPNcricinfo posted a video of the press conference on Instagram, some Indian fans took offence. “4 out of 4 in group stage [sic],” one said, “….won the match against mighty Aussies…and topped the group table….and you are saying that they got free pass… absolute pity on you….don’t worry…you said these words with sadness.”
Dane van Niekerk said she’d rather lose a semi-final than get a free pass to the final
Van Niekerk replied to a few of those, simply saying “ok” with the laughter emoji. She also reposted the video, saying: “NO reference was made towards ANY team. If you want to take it out of context and not actually watch the whole interview, be my guest. Still a VERY proud captain of a VERY talented team.”
South Africa had a memorable tournament on the whole, having topped Group B after going through it unbeaten.
However, their agonising failure at the semi-final stage is the second time in three ICC tournaments, having lost the 2017 ODI World Cup on the last ball too.
