ICC Cricket World Cup, Team stats: South Africa
South Africa made their world cup debut in 1992 and surprised a lot of people by reaching the semi-final in their first attempt. They have been involved in four semi-finals and in two of them, an element of bad luck or nerves got the better of them.
In the 1992 world cup semi-final against England, South Africa were looking at a victory with 22 runs needed from 13 balls, but due to rain, the target was revised to 22 runs from 1 ball and they were knocked out of the tournament.
The 1999 world cup semi-final against Australia saw South Africa needing just 1 run from last 4 balls to win, but a mix-up between Lance Klusener & Allan Donald saw Donald being run out and the match ended in a tie.
Australia proceeded to the final as they finished higher than South Africa in the Super Six stage. The Proteas also reached the semi-final stage in 2007 and 2015, but were once again unable to make it to the final.
South Africa have played a total of 55 matches in the world Cup, winning 35 of them with a win percentage of 65.45.
Let us now take a look at their past performances & key stats ahead of the 2019 World Cup:
Past Performances:
1992 - Semi-finalist
1996 - Quarter-finalist
1999 - Semi-finalist
2003 - Fourth in Group B in the league stage
2007 - Semi-finalist
2011 - Quarter-finalist
2015 - Semi-finalist
Batting Performances:
411/4 scored by South Africa against Ireland in 2015 is their highest team total in the world cup.
149 scored by South Africa against Australia in 2007 is their lowest team total in the world cup.
1207 runs scored by AB de Villiers are the most number of runs scored by a South African player in the world cup.
188* scored by Gary Kirsten against UAE in 1996 is the highest individual score by a South African player in the world cup.
14 centuries have been scored by South African players in the world cup.
4 centuries scored by AB de Villiers are the most number of centuries scored by a South African player in the world cup.
9 half-centuries scored by Jacques Kallis are the most number of half-centuries scored by a South African player in the world cup.
485 runs scored by Jacques Kallis in the 2007 world cup are the most number of runs scored by a South African player in a single edition of the world cup.
Bowling Performances:
38 wickets taken by Allan Donald are the most number of wickets taken by a South African player in the world cup.
5/18 taken by Andrew Hall against England in 2007 is the best bowling performance by a South African player in the world cup.
7 five-wicket hauls have been taken by South African players in the world cup.
17 wickets taken by Lance Klusener in the 1999 world cup and by Morne Morkel in the 2015 world cup are the most number of wickets taken by a South African player in a single edition of the world cup.
Wicket-keeping Performances:
31 dismissals by Mark Boucher are the most number of dismissals by a South African wicket-keeper in the world cup.
4 dismissals by Mark Boucher against Australia in 1999 and by Morne van Wyk against Ireland in 2011 are the most number of dismissals by a South African wicket-keeper in an innings in the world cup.
15 dismissals by David Richardson in the 1992 world cup are the most number of dismissals by a South African wicket-keeper in a single edition of the world cup.
Fielding Performances:
15 catches taken by Graeme Smith are the most number of catches taken by a South African player in the world cup.
9 catches taken by Rilee Rossouw in 2015 are the most number of catches taken by a South African player in a single edition of the world cup.