(Editoial) CWC23: South Africa not the chokers this time

On one side the South Africans were struggling to get through against the Aussies in the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata and on the other side ‘The Chockers’ was viral yesterday on November 16, 2023.

The Proteas, however, were not chockers this time. Checking out literally as well as figuratively, Chocker means when you lose after being in a winning position. This time the case was different with the South Africans.

After World Cup Semi-Final loss to Australia, the SA squad had not much to talk about. South African coach Rob Walter also voiced the same opinion that a choke is losing a game that the team is in a position to win.

Suffering yet another defeat on a world stage seems like a curse. The question is -Why a good team like SA plays well in the beginning and loses in the end?

It’s been around three decades and the Proteas have not changed at all. Is it the pressure of the quarter finals or semi finals? Or it is the inability to take pressure?

If it’s pressure, they need to be taught how to take it on a grand level. Every has to go through such a phase once twice or many times in life. One of the excellent teams today, the SA cannot be ruled out just like that at any contest in the world.

If not so, then is it a curse which doesn’t let a knockout game of a global event perform them to their level? This time it was not chocking against Australia in the second World Cup semifinal. It was far from a choke.

The only stable thing in the first inning was the century from David Miller. From a precarious 24/4 position, the SA squad with Miller’s counter-attacking ton to post a not bad 212 following which in the second inning, the Aussies survived some tense moments while chasing down the target in the 48th over.

Still the fight back by the team was marvelous. The classic bowling performance by the three spinners coupled with the tight fielding by the team was something which made the Aussies not comfortable to chase the soft target of 213 losing seven wickets.

Right from the word go, the SA were behind. Nevertheless, they actually fought their way back into the contest later putting up a score which gave them a chance. But they were 30-40 runs short.

In the second inning the Aussies got them to a flier. The Proteas fought and succeeded in putting them back into the game. Still the total was not good enough to defend, adding thirty more runs could have made the difference.

It’s gutting for the South Africa to lose semifinal, still there are a lot of positives to take home for them. An excellent team played pretty excellent cricket and their respect is well in tact.