Until South Africa began to crumble consistently at cricket’s big moments, the word ‘choker’ would bring to the mind an image of a necklace worn tightly around a woman’s neck. The tag chokers has clung tightly to the South African team for a long time.
And they have lived up to that tag, more often than not. For all their talent and superstars, the Proteas haven’t yet won a World Cup, in any format. They haven’t even made a final, in fact.
They have reached the semifinals four times, though. The most memorable of them was in 1999 at Edgbaston, which ended in a tie despite an incredible 16-ball 31 not out by Lance Klusener, who had an incredible tournament.
In 2015 at Auckland, South Africa was denied a final berth by an out-of-the-world knock for New Zealand by the South Africa-born Grant Elliott.
After all those heartbreaks, maybe it’s finally time for South Africa to realise its potential. This team in India looks good enough to be the dark horse. Temba Bavuma’s men have the talent, the experience and the form.
Powerful batting line-up
South Africa has one of the strongest and most powerful batting line-ups in the competition. Quinton de Kock, who has been one of the world’s finest batters in white-ball cricket for a decade, will be keen to make his last ODI tournament special, Bavuma averages 79.62 in ODIs this year, Rassie van der Dussen has a career ODI average of 56.78, and Aiden Markram was the player-of-the-series against Australia in South Africa’s last series before the World Cup. Then there is the explosive power of David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, not to mention the quality of Reeza Hendricks.
Marco Jensen, the 2.06m tall seaming all-rounder, continues to grow taller in reputation and adds further firepower to the middle-order. Quicks Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi have the skills and the experience in Indian conditions, while in Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi the team has two spinners who could make important contributions on the kinds of pitches the tournament would offer.
The young fast bowler Gerald Coetzee is an exciting prospect and has the pace to hurry the batters even on the flat Indian tracks. The injury to Anrich Nortje is a blow.
Heinrich Klaasen
The IPL experience of many of the key players should also come in handy, as South Africa tries to take the choker off its neck.
