For the Proteas, the prospect of playing in front of a sold out Newlands in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday is not as daunting as it may have appeared two weeks ago when the tournament started. More used to playing in front of just family and friends the Proteas have suddenly found they have a lot more family and a whole lot more friends as this tournament has unfolded and they stumbled and then rumbled into the final where they will face Australia. “I think the crowd behind them was certainly a factor,” said England’s captain Heather Knight. “You certainly felt it as the opposition. ” It’s taken the South Africans a while to grow accustomed to it all. It was one aspect of that defeat to Sri Lanka that they failed to manage properly, Sinalo Jaftha admitted afterwards. Despite that defeat, the crowds kept coming; in Paarl they chanted, in Gqeberha they sang and at Newlands on Friday they roared their approval as the host nation pulled off a stunning six-run victory against England. “ Since our first match in this World Cup, the support, the fans have been massive,” said one of Friday’s heroines, Ayabonga Khaka. “You could see in the crowd at the stadium that people really back us, back women's cricket and that is another factor that is pushing us to do better. “Today against England, even though we started slow, the fans kept on believing and never losing hope. ” As people have kept coming so the players have sought to draw on their energy. When Shabnim Ismail bowled Heather Knight in the final over on Friday, skipper Sune Luus, posted on the long-off boundary turned to the big stand behind her and pumped her arms, coming just short of jumping into the stands herself to celebrate. Tazmin Brits, the player of the match in the semifinal, would like to get everyone involved. “ I've always said I'd rather be in a crowd in my home country if I can put it that way because it's not nice to play in England and have their crowds . . . I’ve had that many times. ” “It’s difficult also, because you have people chanting your name and I’m one of those friendly guys. I want to wave or do a ‘Rabada stretch,’ and hope someone follows me,” said Brits, referencing Kagiso Rabada’s stretching routine during the men’s team’s recent tour to Australia which was mimicked by thousands in the stands in Melbourne. “But then I think to myself, ‘shit, what happens if that ball comes towards me, what am I going to do? Am I going to catch the ball?’ I don’t want to take my focus away from the game. ” For Ismail, there is acknowledgment that the crowd is there, but also an intense focus on what she has to do on the field. “I switch off completely when I bowl and when I bat. I don’t really see the crowd, I mean I see them, but I don’t take note of them although I still say ‘hi and bye’ but once I get the ball in my hand, I switch off completely. I know my job,” said Ismail. Even Knight admitted that the atmosphere at Newlands was special. “Just seeing the crowd tonight, I tried to soak it in a little bit with that final over and how noisy the crowd was. And I think it's great to see people coming out to support. “And I think it proves that if you market it properly, you invest and then people come out. If you had a ticket for today or yesterday, you certainly will be entertained with the standard of cricket on show and obviously closeness of the game,” said the England captain. Beyond Sunday’s final, it is something that Khaka hopes Cricket South Africa can build on. “ I wish and pray that even after the World Cup people do come to the stadiums to support us. ” Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times . Just R20 for the first month. .