CWC History: The heart-breaking tales of South African World Cup dreams

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1992 World Cup Semi-finals - South Africa Vs England

Since 1992, the South African cricket team has managed to display a set pattern in last 8 editions of the World Cup. They usually start as ‘tournament favorites’ but only manage to make a ‘heart-breaking exit’ after losing close encounters in the knockout games. If we revisit history, the South African World Cup dreams present a very sorry picture.

1992

After defeating almost all the major teams in the round-robin phase, South Africa entered the semis to contest against England. Chasing a target of 252 runs, South Africa required 22 runs off the last 13 balls. When the rain interrupted play, Brian McMillan looked threatening at the crease. Once play resumed, the Duckworth Lewis system demanded 22 runs from 1 ball, thus shattering South Africa’s hope of making it to the finals.

1996

In the quarter-finals, Brian Lara nailed it for his team by smashing 111 off 94 deliveries to set a target of 265 runs. In response, South Africa only managed to score 245 runs after being 185/3 at one stage. This was the team which earned the tag of ‘being chokers’ who couldn’t win crunch games. Sadly, the coming generation of South African cricketers carried this tag in every single edition of the World Cup. South Africa managed to win all the 5 round-robin matches in their group and entered the quarterfinals with a tally of 10 points from 5 games.

1999

This was probably South Africa’s best chance of winning the Cricket World Cup. After losing a close match against Australia in the Super Six, they faced the same opponent in the semi-finals. Chasing Australia’s target of 214 runs, South Africa found themselves struggling at 61/4 but their middle and lower order sailed them to 205/9 in 49 overs, thus requiring 9 runs off the last over. Lance Klusener did everything right to score 8 runs from first 2 deliveries but a chaotic run out with Allan Donald ended the match in a tie. Since South Africa lost to Australia in the Super Six stage, Australia went into the finals.

2003

This time hosts, their game against the Lankans turned out to be a must-win affair to advance into the Super Six. 11 years later, history repeated almost the same way when the rain came to South Africa’s nemesis. When it started pouring, Lance Klusener and Mark Boucher received intimation from the dressing room that 229 runs were needed by the end of the 45th over. Mark Boucher smashed a massive six on the penultimate ball of the over to take the score to 229. The last ball of the 45th over was defended for no run. When it was evident that not a single ball could be bowled due to rain, the match was adjourned as a tie. 

2007

South Africa entered the semi-finals as one of the strong contenders for the trophy. However, the team failed again one more time. Batting first, the team got dismissed for 149 without even batting their full quota of 50 overs. Glenn McGrath playing his last World Cup bowled an inspired spell of fast bowling taking 3 important wickets and conceding just 18 runs in 8 overs. The Graeme Smith led team was literally bullied by the Australians on the field, who went on to win the tournament, their third one in a row after 1999 and 2002.

2011

In 2011, South Africa had a dream run in the initial phase of the tournament. They entered the quarterfinals and managed to restrict the Black Caps to a meager total of 221 runs in their quota of 50 overs. Steyn and Morkel were brilliant with the ball for the Proteas. Chasing valiantly, the team crumpled from 108/2 to 172 runs all out, thus losing their last 8 wickets in a span of 64 runs.

2015

When AB De Villiers led side entered the World Cup 2015, many felt the champion batsman can single-handedly win the trophy for his team. It was only a while ago when De Villiers rose up to the ranks of being the best batsmen in the world with records like fastest 100, fastest 150 and career strike rate of 100 plus. However, the team lost to Pakistan and India in their league matches but somehow managed to enter the semis to face New Zealand again.  After setting a target of 298 runs for New Zealand, the Kiwis faced some middle order hiccups after a McCullum hurricane.  When 18 runs were required off the last 8 deliveries, Dale Steyn was already celebrating in the boundary. However, Grant Elliot reduced the equation to 5 off 2 balls. Steyn was hit for a massive six on the second last delivery of the 50th over to shatter yet another South African dream of making a World Cup final.

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