SA choke

Going going going gone. At 3/121 to 172 all out.

SA lose by 49 runs to go crashing out of the semi final race and Kiwis make yet another appearence in the semis. For the first time India and Kiwis go to the semis together. And if tomorrow its England who come up trumps its going to be India vs England final.

Mouth watering stuff.

But SA. What are they made of ? After restricting NZ to 221 and just needing 3 222s to win, they lose yet again. 121 is a dreaded # for them. They collapsed at 121 itself against England and today again they went down.

Generations have gone by but the South African dream has nt materialized.

1992 : Semi final crash, they were not to be blamed for that 21 off 1.

1996: First signs of choking with loss in QF. Thanks to Brian Lara

1999 : Epic choke to Australia 2 times.

2003 : Their own world cup, they need 1 run to go through instead they tie and go out.

2007 : Lose their way in semis to Australia

2011 : Kiwsi blast them out.

Many termed SA as fav team to win the world cup. Not to be. They choked. They had a super team this time.  Amla, Kallis, Smith, ABD and Duminy. None fired when it mattered. Amla got good starts but except 1 100 never went on to make a hundred.

Imran Tahir, their new playtoy couldnt fire against big teams.

And biggest of them all, they choked in their minds. They chased 297 successfuly against India but could not  chase 172 and 222.  There are plenty of South African coaches around, none as best as Gary Kirsten for India. And now they shall desparately want him to coach them.

No decision reviewed this game. Good

What a game Kiwis had. Both captains are going to step down post this campaign, but its Vettori who’z  got better of Smith on a venue where they lost 0-4 to Deshis. Oram, Ryder, Nathan McCullum had a super game today.

And now they travel to Colombo for their semi final against SL or England (England my favorite).

SA need some time off and may be a reconditioning program for empowering mental strenghts. This is a World Cup and it doesnt get bigger than this. They had 4 spinners, but that didnt matter in the end cos their batsmen lacked the steel resolve to conquer something which India, England and Australia have.

Its a glorious upset and what a turnaround for Kiwis.

All attributed to one man, who started it all for Indian turnaround, good 11 years back. Take a bow for John Wright.