South Africa’s repeated ICC heartbreaks: Examining the impact on the Proteas

The most shocking aspect of the loss is that’s exactly what happened to South Africa on several occasions before in ICC matches, even sometimes when rain was incorrectly blamed for the Proteas’ exit.

In the 2015 Cricket World Cup semi-final also against New Zealand, though South Africa scored a decent 281 in their rain-shortened 43-over innings batting first, slow batting up front cost them.

Hashim Amla made 10 from 14, Quinton de Kock 14 from 17, Rilee Rossouw 39 from 53. Even Faf du Plessis’s 82 needed 107 balls.

Of the main contributors, it was only AB de Villiers (65 from 45) and again Miller (49 from 18) who scored at over a strike-rate of over 82.

There are even more examples I wrote about after the Proteas exited quietly from the Champions Trophy, but one can only surmise that the latest setback hurt the Proteas far more than they care to share and Walter was the one to suffer.

@Michael_Sherman

IOL Sport

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