Captain Juan James previews host's South Africa semi final U19 World Cup clash with India

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Transcript

00:00 [SIDE CONVERSATION]

00:19 OK, thanks everyone.

00:22 Hello, hello.

00:23 OK, thanks everyone for joining us.

00:25 We're joined by South Africa captain Juan James

00:27 for this pre-match press conference

00:28 ahead of tomorrow's semifinal between India and South Africa.

00:32 Juan will be taking questions here from the room in Benoni.

00:35 So shall I start with Kaniso?

00:39 Thank you, Juan.

00:40 I nearly called you James.

00:42 That's what happens when you have a name.

00:44 How excited are you guys about the semifinal,

00:47 considering the patches of excellent performance

00:50 and also a bit of tips that you guys experienced through

00:53 the group stages and the Super Sixes?

00:55 Yeah, we're really excited.

00:56 I think it's the third time in our history

00:58 playing in a semifinal, and it's quite special having a chance

01:01 in South Africa as well.

01:03 Our performances haven't been as we like,

01:06 but the good thing is that we haven't put together

01:09 the perfect performance.

01:10 So hopefully it's going to come in the next two games.

01:13 How special is it to have a semifinal at home?

01:16 I mean, it is the third time that South Africa--

01:19 South Africa hosted this tournament in '98,

01:21 missed out on the final then.

01:24 Again, to see in 2020, it wasn't a great tournament

01:26 for the hosts.

01:27 So how excited are you guys to be playing at home semifinal?

01:31 Yeah, like I said, it's been special playing in front

01:34 of our family and friends.

01:36 I think in Portia especially, the crowd came out

01:39 to support us.

01:39 So hopefully the people come out tomorrow as well.

01:42 Just talk us through Kwennema Pak.

01:44 He's been on the lips of everyone.

01:46 I mean, if you take three fivers in a tournament

01:48 and take 18 wickets in any tournament,

01:50 everyone's going to talk about you regardless of which level

01:53 you're playing.

01:54 Just talk us through how influential he's

01:56 been for the team and how you guys cherish

01:59 having him in the team.

02:00 Yeah, obviously he's a special player like everyone can see.

02:03 So it's obviously great having someone like him.

02:06 It's his third World-- second World Cup.

02:08 So he brings a lot of experience with him

02:09 and he brings a calm head as well.

02:11 He's quite a calm and chilled guy.

02:13 So he brings a lot of calmness to the team as well.

02:16 Just talk us through the strengths of the senior team.

02:20 The operative word to use that they haven't been tested

02:24 through the tournament.

02:25 They've had slow starts here and there,

02:26 but they've accelerated well.

02:27 Are there any other weaknesses you

02:28 may have seen despite the fact that they've been pretty much

02:31 the form team throughout?

02:33 Yeah, we've played them a couple of times prior to the World Cup

02:36 and we've picked up a couple of things.

02:37 I'm not going to mention it now, obviously,

02:39 but we've picked up a couple of things that we want to target.

02:41 So we're really looking forward to tomorrow.

02:44 Just talk us through the improvements

02:46 your middle order needs to make.

02:48 The starts from Steve and Luandre have been excellent,

02:51 but they haven't always been converted by the middle order.

02:54 How important is it for them to put up

02:58 excellent performance for this thing for tomorrow's game?

03:02 I think we're not worrying too much about it.

03:04 I think when they are required to step up, we'll step up.

03:08 So I really feel like tomorrow is going to be our day.

03:11 Thanks, Juan.

03:14 I just want to ask you a couple of questions

03:16 about the venue itself.

03:18 How familiar are you with the conditions

03:20 that Benoni played here much before?

03:23 I think as a collective, we've probably only played

03:25 a couple of games here.

03:27 So not too familiar with the conditions,

03:29 but we have local knowledge that really helps.

03:32 What are you expecting tomorrow's conditions to be like

03:35 in terms of the wicket?

03:36 How do you think it will play?

03:37 This wicket generally has a bit of pace in it.

03:40 Not much turn, although the previous game

03:42 there was a couple of balls that really spun.

03:45 The outfield is generally quite quick as well.

03:48 And it's a high scoring venue.

03:50 So I'm expecting a good cricket game tomorrow.

03:53 Perfect.

03:55 I want to ask as well about your captaincy

03:59 and looking ahead to tomorrow's game.

04:01 What would be the words that you say to the team

04:02 just as you're about to step out onto the field?

04:05 It's going to be a big game for everyone.

04:06 So I just want to understand what you're going to give them

04:09 as words of wisdom.

04:10 Probably just to stay calm.

04:11 I think the team who plays the best of situations,

04:13 the best will probably come out on top.

04:15 So that's probably going to be the word of the day, calmness.

04:18 So just take it ball by ball as well.

04:20 Perfect.

04:20 And can you just sum up the World Cup experience for you

04:23 to date?

04:24 What's it been like playing with this team,

04:27 being together for such a long period of time,

04:30 and looking ahead to the next games?

04:31 Has it been a good experience?

04:32 And are you expecting some more from this team?

04:34 It's been quite a special couple of months together.

04:37 We've really become quite fond of each other.

04:40 And we're really excited.

04:43 And it's been awesome, this tournament.

04:45 To play in a tournament, I guess it's quite something special.

04:49 Brilliant.

04:50 Any other questions?

04:52 [INAUDIBLE]

04:54 Johan, your only loss was against England.

04:57 And it was a rain-affected game.

04:59 What are the lessons that you guys took out of that,

05:02 particularly paying attention to the DLS and awareness?

05:06 Because there's been quite a lot of rain

05:08 in this region these last couple of weeks

05:10 and these last few days.

05:12 It's probably just to play better and smarter cricket.

05:14 I think at stages, we just threw away the game, in a sense.

05:19 So just play smarter cricket, basically.

05:22 OK.

05:27 Thank you, Johan.

05:28 Thank you very much.

05:29 Thank you.

05:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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