Proteas aim to remain calm ahead of a historic title chase
South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince believes the team is under no pressure despite being on the brink of breaking a long-standing ICC title drought.
As Day 3 of the Ultimate Test came to a close, South Africa needed just 69 more runs to secure the ICC World Test Championship crown — their first ICC men's title since 1998.
Prince emphasised that the team is in no hurry to finish the game, and are focused and composed as they edge closer to a historic victory.
"One of the things we said before the run chase was that the game will finish when it finishes, whether that is tomorrow at lunchtime or whatever time, the end of the match will take care of itself," Prince said.
"For us, the most important thing is to remain in the moment. Stay in the moment. And obviously, from a batting point of view, that means play one ball at a time."
Prince was full of praise for South Africa's two stars of the day — Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma.
The pair has stitched together a 143-run unbeaten partnership, firmly tilting the game in Proteas' favour as they edge closer to a famous win at Lord's.
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I mean, I don't want to take away from their performance, today with Aiden and Temba in particular was outstanding." Proteas' Relentless Leader | Graeme Smith | ICC Hall of Fame A fearless leader who epitomises grit and resilience. Graeme Smith - a pillar of South African cricket and a leader like no other. Smith has kept a close eye on the South African setup through different roles after calling time on his international career in 2014, including a stint as director of cricket at Cricket South Africa from 2019 to 2022. Looking at the team of 2025, Smith paid tribute to a group of players who have buckled down on a quest to lift the World Test Championship mace. 'I think we've fought extremely hard over the last two to three years to really build South African cricket up again, from various people have got involved and see the team performing well on the global stage. "Everyone wrote South Africa off before this game, disappointed South Africa were in the final. 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