Cairns [Australia], August 12 : Ahead of his side's second T20I against Australia, young South African pacer Kwena Maphaka spoke on bouncing back after a poor tri-nation series in Zimbabwe with a record-breaking four-fer at Darwin, saying that "he does not like losing and always wants to come out on top of a fight".

The second T20I will be held in Cairns on Tuesday. In the first T20I, he became the youngest player from a Test-playing nation to take a T20I four-wicket haul, with figures of 4/20. He was also involved in a verbal exchange with Aussie batter Tim David, who had spliced a delivery aimed at his chest and had attempted to complain to the umpire for a no ball.

"He went to the umpire and he was asking about it," Maphaka said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo after the match, which the Proteas lost by 17 runs while chasing 179. He also revealed that he was having none of his complaints, "I just told him to let the umpires deal with umpiring the game, and he must focus on batting," he added.

David went on to smash a 52-ball 83, with four boundaries and eight sixes, pushing Aussies to a match-winning 178 after they were five down at 71 runs.

While Kwena stood out for Proteas as a bowler, starting his spell by sending Mitchell Owen's stump out for a toss, he did not perform well in Zimbabwe during the tri-nation series against the hosts and New Zealand, taking just three wickets for 92 runs in 10.5 overs. But now, Maphaka has shown how he belongs to this level of cricket.

"It feels really good, coming off a few bad performances in Zimbabwe and just building up, playing some more professional and competitive cricket in the past few months, it feels really good to put in a good performance for the team and make history while doing it," he said.

During the tri-nation series, he opened the bowling and was also used as a first-change bowler. He was used extensively in the powerplay. But against Australia, with senior Kagiso Rabada back, Maphaka was used after fielding restrictions were lifted. Kwena termed it as a "tactical ploy" to get wickets in the middle overs, instead of being protected by the Proteas team as a young bowler.

"It may have been a tactical ploy, but I think it's also just about giving me a little bit more freedom," he said.

"I am a guy that likes to take wickets in the middle, and I think the team understands that. It was really just a tactical ploy in terms of getting wickets through the middle rather than protecting me as a player," he added.

Australia went really hard irrespective of wickets falling, but were 88/6 at the halfway stage, with Maphaka and spinner Senuran Muthuswamy producing just 17 runs and taking two wickets after the powerplay in the next four overs.

"When a team is coming out all guns blazing, there are a few more opportunities to take wickets, so it is about being smart and understanding what you have to do when you're faced with those situations," Maphaka said.

"Sometimes you go to a yorker, a bumper or a slower ball. It is all about reading the game and understanding what you need to do at that moment and keeping your plans as simple as possible, really," he added.

Before the Zimbabwe series, he had played five T20Is, two ODIs and a Test before turning 19. While his returns have not been at his best, he has no doubt that Proteas see him as a major future player, and he has learnt to handle that level of expectations, breaking out after a 'Player of the Tournament' U19 WC 2024, with 21 wickets.

"The most important part is just really accepting the fact that you are going to have bad days, you are going to have good days, and it is just sticking to your game plan and sticking to whatever you do best. I am not going to be the best player in the world overnight, and I understand that. It is all about growing as a player day by day, and just keeping focused on the grind and what I have to do to make myself better on a daily basis," he said.

"I have always been pretty confident and a real competitor," he said. "I never like losing. I always want to come out on top of the fight. It is something that has been instilled in me since I was really young," he concluded.

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