London [UK] June 13 : Wiaan Mulder, South African all-rounder, said that the Proteas' approach removed his fear of failing in the second innings of the World Test Championship Final against Australia at Lord's in London on Friday.
He told Proteas focused on scoring runs. He also mentioned that batting at number three is a new experience for him in first-class cricket.
"It took away the fear of failure going into this innings. We talked about getting whatever they get. There was a lot less fear of failure going into this innings. We had a chat about putting away the bad balls. Batting at number three is a new thing for me, I haven't done it in first-class cricket," Wiaan Mulder said after the match.
Mulder cited the third session of Day 3 as "Supersession" and believed Aiden Markram and South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma had put in a lot to help South African cricket do something special in the WTC Final.
"Super session, both of them (Markram and Bavuma) have been through a lot, you can see they were drained, really nice to see two guys who've put in a lot for South African cricket do something special today. The surface was a bit slower today, there wasn't as much nip, and it's got to do with wear and tear. Even when we were bowling, everything was happening really slowly, I'm glad we capitalised," he added.
South Africa has reached 213 runs in 56 overs, led by a century-run partnership between Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma. Despite a hamstring injury, SA captain Bavuma has fought through to register a half-century.
Earlier in the day, A fine half-century partnership between Aiden Markram and Wiaan Mulder put South Africa in a solid spot at the end of the second session during day three of the WTC final at Lord's on Friday. At the end of the session, SA was 94/2, with skipper Temba Bavuma (11*) and Markram (49*) unbeaten.
Starc played one of the finest innings of his life, which powered Australia to 207/10 from a poor position of 152/9, leading by 281 at lunch. Starc remained not out on 58, leaving Proteas to chase 282 to end their ICC title drought.
Brief Scores: Australia: 212 and 207 (Mitchell Starc 58*, Alex Carey 43, Kagiso Rabada 4/59) against SA: 138 and 213/2 (Aiden Markram 102*, Temba Bavuma 65*, Mitchell Starc 2/37).