To have any hope of winning this ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the Proteas were always going to need “the others” to score some big runs at crucial times.
“The others” are everybody but captain Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp, who have dominated the Proteas run-scoring.
Leading up to the semi-final against Australia it seemed that nothing had changed. Both Brits and Wolvaardt were again amongst the leading run-scorers in the tournament with Kapp playing some crucial cameos at various junctures.
The situation was crying out for an “other” to put up their hand. Cue Anneke Bosch.
With the spotlights of the Dubai International Stadium at its brightest, Bosch hauled out the innings of a lifetime. Perhaps after today’s final it could arguably be the most important innings ever played by a Proteas’ batter - male or female.
It was a truly remarkable batting exhibition, magnified by the fact that Bosch was under immense pressure not to just make an impact, but to also hold on to her place in the line-up after a string of failures.
But having the confidence of knowing that she had the full support of the management team, particularly batting coach Baakier Abrahams, Bosch played the Australians at their own game.
Fearlessly she attacked every new bowler from the moment they were introduced into the attack. And had the mental clarity to produce a sweeping masterclass whilst also striking the ball sweetly down the ground.
The potential has always been there, but now the Proteas can confidently head into their successive T20 World Cup final knowing they are no longer reliant on certain individuals.
“Wolfie and Taz have been incredible for us the last season or year or even throughout the tournament. So that helps a lot when we do have a good foundation or when they are going well and I come in, there's kind of no pressure on me,” Bosch said.
“But yeah, it was a bit different. I think my mindset could still kind of stay the same, even though we lost an early wicket. Our Powerplay, I don't think, started as well as it normally does, the first two or three overs.
“Coming off a couple of bad games you really realize that you don't have anything more to lose … kind of thing. I think maybe that's what helped me and maybe that's what made me kind of more relaxed and just more playing more freely without too much pressure on myself.”
But the big question now is can Bosch do it again, when the stakes are arguably even higher?
“I think it gives the team even more confidence going into the next game, knowing that our batting lineup is looking quite strong,” she said.
“It wasn't today, or probably not always, the same people scoring the runs. It does show that we have the ability for other people as well to come in and win a game for the team, so I think that'll give the whole team just more confidence going into the final as we still have a big job to do there.”
Having vanquished the mighty Australians - and also in the manner which it was achieved - may give the impression to some that the Proteas have already scaled their Everest.
It is something that will no doubt be spoken about as their date with destiny draws closer, for this is undeniably the Proteas’ greatest chance to create history as the first South African senior cricket team to win a World Cup.
Having tasted the disappointment of losing last year’s T20 World Cup before their home crowd at Newlands, Bosch definitely wants to set the record straight now in Dubai.
“We're really happy and we had this belief that we can do it,” she said. “But I think we haven't played our best game yet and probably still haven't but hopefully we're leaving it for the finals now.”