Proteas unbothered by being ‘bat first’ pigeonholed

South Africa trashed Bangladesh by 149 runs, days after dispatching England by a mammoth 229, and they won games one and two by 102 and 134 runs, respectively, against Sri Lanka and Australia. 

These remarkable victories, however, sandwich their solitary loss in the tournament, which came against the Netherlands in the only game in which they did not bat first.

"We just approaching each game and seeing what's probably best to do on the day, but obviously the history of the last how many games it is now, we've batted first quite a bit. So, I think it's quite easy to get that mantra of the 'bat first' team but we are a team that is happy to chase.

"Obviously, now we haven't done it in a while so to do it successfully in an ideal world would be great and you can get those reference points again and get those habits going but either or not we gonna just decide to chase because we haven't chased in a while. I'm not too sure we'll have to see," Markram said.

South Africa may have flown under the radar going into the tournament, while other nations including defending champions England, hosts India, Pakistan, and New Zealand were considered pre-tournament favourites.

And, while the Proteas have captured everyone's attention with these results, Markram, who has led the last two games due to Temba Bavuma's illness, insists they had no intention of challenging anybody.

"I'm not too sure if it's putting statements out there. We trying to sort of crack on with what we try and do and achieve as a team. As every other team is, I'm sure they are too, get into the knockout stage and get into that final and then play a good game of cricket in the final as well. So, that's pretty much where our focus is at. Not trying to blow up the occasion.

"Obviously, you respect the fact that you are at a World Cup for sure and you appreciate that a lot but ultimately when you cross the rope it is just the game of cricket and I think that keeps us nice and calm as well. Hopefully, we can sort of continue that approach going forward," Markram added.

The 1999 semi-finalists are second on the table and will advance to the last four if they win two of their remaining group games. Markram though, is adamant this is not the approach of the team. 

"[Starting to make calculations] is a pretty dangerous place to be. I don't think you wanna start trying to do maths this far out.

"We have still got four games of cricket and that's potentially eight points up for grabs and that's what we gonna try to push for.

"I think if you start sitting and hoping for a result from this team and try and work out that maybe we only need two wins left or whatever it is, I don't think that's a great place to be as a unit.

"So, I'm sure we'll stay far away from that and focus on the very next game and try back the performances that we've put in so far."

READ MORE: Which South African cricket stars have the biggest social media following?