T20 World Cup 2021: "Jeet K Bhi Haar Gaye" - Fans sympathize with South Africa for getting ousted despite winning 4 out of 5 games
South Africa's bad luck at ICC tournaments continued as they bowed out of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Saturday night. It was disheartening for the Proteas players and their fans as the team put in a spirited performance by winning four of their five Super 12 matches.
South Africa also managed to beat Group 1 table-toppers England in their final match on their way out. It was the first defeat for Eoin Morgan's team in the tournament. England, Australia, and South Africa all ended with eight points. However, due to superior net run-rates, England and Australia usurped South Africa to advance to the semi-finals.
Fans were disappointed to witness South Africa's heartbreaking exit from the World Cup and took to Twitter to express their views on the matter. Most of them appreciated Temba Bavuma's boys for playing a good brand of cricket and putting on a great show.
Fans react after South Africa crash out of World Cup even after defeating leaders England
It was a bitter-sweet end, the young guys will learn a lot from this experience: Temba Bavuma
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma opined that the victory against England in their final fixture was a bitter-sweet one for his side. Even though they did not qualify for the semis, Bavuma feels that the young players in the side will learn a lot from the experiences in this tournament. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Temba Bavuma said:
"Today's win was important for us. It was a Bitter-sweet end. We achieved what set out to do, which was to win this game. But we just couldn't win it big enough to boost our net run rate.
He added:
"At the start of the tournament, the net run rate was never a factor for us as we concentrated on winning games. It's always tough to make up for that at the back end, especially against quality opposition like England. The young guys will learn a lot from this experience. It will give us a lot of knowledge on how to go about things moving forward.
South Africa exceeded the expectations of many fans and performed admirably, even though they fielded a relatively inexperienced side. They will be looking to take a few lessons from this World Cup and put on an improved performance in the next edition.