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Playing in the knock-out stage and losing in the most crucial game, is too much familiar with South Africa cricket team. The Proteas’ latest effort in their maiden entrance in a World Cup final against India also reflected the same in Barbados on Saturday.
South Africa should take pride this time that they finally ended their semi-final jinx, having beaten Afghanistan in dominating fashion in T20 World Cup semifinal Trinidad.
But they carried the tag of ‘chokers’ in the most important match of the tournament when they lost in similar circumstances against India.
With a comfortable 30 from 30 balls, six wickets in hand and a big-hitting Heinrich Klaasen leading the charge, South Africa looked all set for their maiden T20 World Cup triumph.
Klaasen was batting on 49 at the end of the 15th over, he had swashbuckling David Miller on the other side, who too had settled in and was on 14 off 7 balls. And the duo almost took the game away from India.
South Africa's scorecard read 147 for four in 15 overs in 177-run chase as a 24-run 15th over from Axar Patel had almost sealed a famous Proteas win.
But hell broke loose for the Proteas after that as India produced an amazing comeback from the 16th over.
Carrying on the tag of ‘chokers’ for over two decades now, South Africa did the unimaginable and so did India as the game turned on its head.
Not budging down despite immense pressure, a calculated Rohit Sharma threw in his trump card, bringing in Jasprit Bumrah for his third over.
The pacer, who had conceded just 12 in his opening two-over spell and was India's best bet, came in and bowled a heart-stopping 16th over.
Giving away just 4 runs in it, Bumrah kept India's hopes alive and that's where South Africa's choking in the chase began.
Although the win predictor still showed 92% Proteas win and India's chances at only 8% after 16 overs, the reality on the ground looked different.
The equation was now 26 off 24 as Hardik Pandya came back into the attack to bowl the 17th over.
Dismissing a fifty-up Heinrich Klaasen on the first ball of the over, Hardik broke the backbone of the Proteas chase.
As a potentially match winning knock from Klaasen ended via a caught behind dismissal, India were now right back in the contest.
In the 17th over, Hardik gave just 4 runs apart from the Klaasen wicket as South Africa now needed 22 off 18.
And after a couple of dot balls and a single, Bumrah knocked over Marco Jansen (2) on the fourth ball as David Miller, at the non-striker's end helplessly watched the Proteas implosion.
With just two runs and a wicket coming in the 18th Bumrah over, the pressure was now all on South Africa.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh then also kept up pressure with discipline bowing under immense pressure, giving away just 4 runs to David Miller (21*) and Keshav Maharaj (2*).
And needing 16 from final six balls, Hardik had dangerous Miller in the first ball and credit should be given to Surykumar Yadav who took a sensational catch at long-off to get rid of Miller for 21 as it seemed all over.
Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada tried their best but that proved insufficient in the end as India clinched a famous seven-run win.
South Africa just do not know how to finish off matches in style! This is the main reason why they are called ‘chokers’ and chokers can never become champions due to fear in the team of losing.
Since their ignominious defeat in the 1999 Cricket World Cup final against Australia, the tag ‘chokers’ has been stuck with the Proteas. But every time they come into the ICC big events with so much promise and great determination to remove ‘chokers’ tag.
Like the previous ICC tournaments, South Africa arrived in this world cup as one of the strong favourites to win the World Cup.
Proteas though launched their World Cup campaign in style and clinched their maiden final spot in a World Cup event as unbeaten.
But nothing changed. Yet again they kept their tag intact and ended their World Cup campaign with narrow defeat in the most-important match of the tournament.
The Proteas have won only one global one-day title and that was in the inaugural ICC Knock Out Tournament in 1998.Its name was changed to the Champions Trophy in 2002.
But since then, choking and the South African cricket team, nicknamed the Proteas, has been almost synonymous.
It all started in 1992 world cup. South Africa, chasing 253, needed 22 from 13 balls when the heavens opened but under the controversial pre-Duckworth/Lewis rain rule, which deducted the opposition’s two least productive overs from the target, they needed 21 from just one ball
Some of South Africa’s losses in the World Cup are even more painful. In 2003, playing at home, the team needed to win against Sri Lanka to advance out of the first round. As rain, which would eventually end the match, poured down, some team members celebrated, thinking they had scored enough runs to win. But they had miscalculated: The match ended in a tie and South Africa was out.
The ‘choke’ also saw in Graeme Smith’s time then South Africa throw away a place in the last four as they buckled under the pressure of chasing 222. Cruising on 108 for two, South Africa lost eight wickets for 64 to collapse to a humiliating defeat.
Even, South Africa lost in a semifinal to India with only five balls remaining. In 2009, the team came up a mere seven runs short at the same stage.
They carried the tag of ‘chokers’ in last world cup 2015 in disappointing fashion when they lost another World Cup semi-final in similar circumstances against New Zealand.
In this year’s semifinal Proteas forget that it was Afghanistan's first semi-final, forget that it was played on a surface not fit for T20s, that wreaked havoc on batters and played into the Proteas hands.
But the bad news is that come the final they once again contrived to lose the match from a strong position.
Still the Proteas believe their team would never lose the chokers tag unless they win a big tournament. But they do not know when the day will come.
The writer is a Staff reporter of The Daily Messenger. He can be reached at [email protected].
Messenger/Fameema
