Listicle
Five occasions when South Africa’s bad luck hurt their chances in Global tournaments
South Africa has so far displayed some amazing cricket during the ODI World Cup 2023 tournament. Their latest win was against England on Saturday in Mumbai where they beat the defending champions by 229 runs. This latest triumph has given renewed hopes for the protean team and its fans.
The South Africans made their ODI World Cup debut in 1992 and are yet to win the tournament. In their 9th tournament, South Africa has witnessed some major bad luck during the global events.
In this list let us take a closer look at the five occasions when the South African team missed out on glory due to their bad luck.
#1. 2015 ODI World Cup Semi-Finals versus New Zealand –
2015 ODI Cricket World Cup (Source-Twitter)
The game at Eden Park was a 43- over per side affair as the rain affected the game. Batting first South Africa scored 281 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Faf Du Plessis top scorer with 82, while AB De Villiers was 65 not out. David Miller then powered his way to 49 from just 18 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes.
Chasing 298 for a win, Brendon McCullum led the charge with 59 runs from 26 balls as the Kiwis scored 71 runs in 6 overs. The South African team made a comeback with wickets at regular intervals. Bad luck struck when the South Africans dropped a few catches and missed an easy runout. Former South African Grant Elliot was not out on 84 runs to win the game for his side.
#2. 2003 ODI World Cup Super-Six game versus Sri Lanka –
2003 ODI World Cip (Source-Twitter)
The game at Durban saw rain and tears flow freely when a miscalculation saw the South African team get knocked out. Batting first Sri Lanka scored 268/9 thanks to Marvan Atapattu’s 124 and 73 by Aravinda De Silva.
South Africa began the chase well with Gibbs scoring 73 runs before losing a flurry of wickets. Mark Boucher and skipper Shaun Pollock got the home team back into the game. With the score reading 223, Boucher hit a six and defended the next ball. That’s when the umpires called the players back in and there was more shock to follow. It was told to the South Africans that they needed to score 230 to win the game and the tie had knocked them out of the tournament.
#3. 2002 Champions Trophy Semi-Final versus India –
2002 Champions Trophy (Source-Twitter)
Batting first, India had scored 261 for the loss of 9 wickets from their 50 overs. Sehwag led the charge with 59 runs as Yuvraj Singh scored 62 runs.
Gibbs was batting well on 116 runs when he suffered cramps on his hands. This gave the Indian team a chance to make their comeback and eventually win the game by 10 runs. Sehwag was also the hero with the ball when he removed Kallis for 97 in the final stages of the game.
#4. 1999 ODI World Cup Semi-Finals versus Australia –
1999 ODI World Cup (Source-Twitter)
Steve Waugh’s century had got Australia in the final four stages of the ODI World Cup in 1999. The equation was simple a win or tie for Australia will ensure their passage to the final. The South Africans had to win the game.
Australia was all out for 213 and Shane Warne then spun a wen to have the Proteas in trouble. Needing runs off the last over, Lance Klusener hit Damien Fleming for two fours in a row. The 4th ball of the over saw a massive miscommunication take place as Allan Donald was run out.
It was pure bad luck for Hansie Cronje and his team as the game ended in a tie. This meant that Australia went to the final and faced Pakistan and won the title.
#5. 1992 World Cup Semi-Finals versus England –
1992 ODI World Cup (Source-Twitter)
Graeme Hick with 83 runs led the batting charts for England as they scored 252 runs from their 50 overs. The South Africans came back into the game with some good scores from their top order. Needing 22 runs from 13 balls the rains came down and what happened next was total bad luck. The rain rule meant that South Africa needed an impossible 22 runs from 1 ball. This left every cricket fan totally shattered and heartbroken.