The distance between Ahmedabad, situated in north-central Gujarat along the banks of the Sabarmati River, all the way north to New Delhi, positioned between the Himalayas and the Aravalli Range, is just under 1 000km. It may as well be on a different continent for the Proteas after spending the first week of their ICC T20 World Cup journey at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, picking up three crucial wins from three matches, to book their ticket to the next Super Eights phase. Afghanistan’s victory over UAE on Monday ensuredthe Proteas’ passage to the next roundwith a game to spare.
Aiden Markram’s men have, though, now packed their bags and travelled to India’s capital for their final Group D match, effectively a dead-rubber, against the UAE at the unknown Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday. The Proteas have become accustomed to the Narendra Modi Stadium, where they even worked out unique field placings to suit the ground’s dimensions, such as when David Miller took a smart catch at short third-man offMarco Jansenagainst New Zealand. “A lot of the plans come from the bowlers which I think they need to get a lot of credit for and it gives you wide options pace on and pace off and it gives you straight options pace on and pace off as well,” Proteas captain Aiden Markram said. “I think that’s what most teams are chasing, it’s just the fields might look different for each of them based on the type of bowler, the skiddy nature or bouncy nature, whatever it might be.”
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