South Africa's Choking Habit Again Denies Them a Place in the World Cup Final

Everything was in place for it to become a storyline reminiscent of that memorable Birmingham semifinal from 24 years ago.

If South Africa's all too familiar propensity to choke and Australia's never-say-die spirit had earned the men from Down Under their fourth World Cup final berth back on June 17, 1999, then Thursday at the Eden was primarily about the Proteas' mistakes that once again denied them a spot in the championship match. and awarded the eighth final spot to the Australians.

With 16 balls remaining, Australia managed to sneak home with a three-wicket victory and secured a trip to Ahmedabad for Sunday's grand match against India, so it's safe to say they had no complaints.

When the quicks had favorable overhead conditions, the South Africans chose to bat first after winning the toss and ended up defending a meagre 213 runs as they repeatedly dropped catches in crucial moments.

Man of the Match Travis Head during his 48-ball 62 on Thursday.

Australia feared they may end up like South Africa in the 1999 semi-final, with 214 being the winning objective. After centurion David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen attempted to save the innings with their 95-run partnership for the fifth wicket, Travis Head struck twice to put South Africa back on the back foot. Australia's quicks, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and skipper Pat Cummins, claimed the most of the wickets.

Despite openers David Warner and Head's flawless performance with the bat and ball—they pounded out 60 runs in the first six overs—South Africa was still in the game. The Proteas had some hope when Rassie van der Dussen made a spectacular grab at extra cover after Aiden Markram had castled Warner.

To make matters worse, at 77/2 in the 12th over, replacement Reeza Hendricks dropped Head at the sweeper area. The left-hander then went on to hit three boundaries.

If South Africa's all too familiar propensity to choke and Australia's never-say-die spirit had earned the men from Down Under their fourth World Cup final berth back on June 17, 1999, then Thursday at the Eden was primarily about the Proteas' mistakes that once again denied them a spot in the championship match. and awarded the eighth final spot to the Australians.

With 16 balls remaining, Australia managed to sneak home with a three-wicket victory and secured a trip to Ahmedabad for Sunday's grand match against India, so it's safe to say they had no complaints.

When the quicks had favorable overhead conditions, the South Africans chose to bat first after winning the toss and ended up defending a meagre 213 runs as they repeatedly dropped catches in crucial moments.

Travis Head, the man of the match, made 62 from 48 balls on Thursday.

Travis Head, the man of the match, made 62 from 48 balls on Thursday.

Kumar Sanat Sinha

Australia feared they may end up like South Africa in the 1999 semi-final, with 214 being the winning objective. After centurion David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen attempted to save the innings with their 95-run partnership for the fifth wicket, Travis Head struck twice to put South Africa back on the back foot. Australia's quicks, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and skipper Pat Cummins, claimed the most of the wickets.

Despite openers David Warner and Head's flawless performance with the bat and ball—they pounded out 60 runs in the first six overs—South Africa was still in the game. The Proteas had some hope when Rassie van der Dussen made a spectacular grab at extra cover after Aiden Markram had castled Warner.

To make matters worse, at 77/2 in the 12th over, replacement Reeza Hendricks dropped Head at the sweeper area. The left-hander then went on to hit three boundaries.

As if the release on 40 wasn't enough, Head was given an additional life when Klaasen let go of Tabraiz Shamsi on life 57. Credit must undoubtedly go to young Coetzee, who unlike Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, bowled with all of his heart on an Eden track that was almost entirely devoid of grass, and to Keshav Maharaj and Shamsi, who combined to bowl a perfect chinaman to clean up Maxwell and put Australia under pressure once again.

If only Maharaj had been brought on earlier on a track where the ball spun more as the game went on by captain Temba Bavuma, who predictably flopped again with the bat...

A child from 'D' block had onto the field at the conclusion of the game in order to take a photo with Miller. Given his bravery in the face of adversity, the left-hander most definitely deserves a fan base.

But for now, Miller is limited to sitting and thinking because of his teammates' poor application, bad catching, and terrible decision-making.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.