"There's nothing even remotely close to a choke" - Rob Walter on South Africa's defeat in 2023 World Cup semi-final
South Africa head coach Rob Walter brushed aside the notion that they 'choked' in the 2023 World Cup semi-final against Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Walter reflected that South Africa fought back from a poor start to put up a competitive score.
The Proteas chose to bat first after winning a crucial toss, but couldn't capitalize on it, losing their top four cheaply. David Miller, who struck a century, added 95 with Heinrich Klaasen to revive South Africa's hopes. However, Australia eventually sneaked home by three wickets.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, the head coach said that South Africa's defeat wasn't remotely close to choking and lauded his team for their efforts.
"I guess you need to define what a choke is. For me, a choke is losing a game that you're in a position to win. In this instance, we were behind the eight ball right from the word go and we actually fought our way back into the competition and put up a score that gave us a chance and then again they got off to a flyer and we fought and we put ourselves back into the game."
"So for me there's nothing even remotely close to a choke that happened out there today. It's a serious contest between two good teams, number two and three in the tournament. Today, I don't think anyone could watch and say it wasn't through lack of effort."
The Proteas notably shelled three catches, one each off Steve Smith, Travis Head, and Pat Cummins. Head, whose off-spin yielded two wickets, set the tone for Australia, with a 48-ball 62.
"We were confident that he would be able to go bat properly" - Rob Walter on Temba Bavuma
The 48-year-old coach also jumped to Temba Bavuma's defense, who got out for a duck, suggesting that his on-field presence and leadership were worth gambling for despite his lack of fitness. Walter added:
"From a batting point of view, we were confident that he would be able to go bat properly, run between wickets properly but he was sort of weighing that up with having him on the field present as the captain. And for me that trumps it every day, having his leadership and his presence on the field is everything.
"We spoke about it, he said I'm not 100 per cent but I can definitely play and I want to be on the park."
The Proteas suffered their fifth defeat in ODI World Cup knockouts, with three of those coming against Australia.