South Africa End 27 Years Of Hurt: A Look Back At Why They Were Given 'Chokers' Tag

NDTV

14-06-2025

On a clement London Saturday, South Africa atoned for years of hurt, dejection and near-misses, lifting the World Test Championship title, beating Australia by five wickets at the Lord's. South Africa clinched their first major ICC trophy in 27 years, having last won the ICC KnockOut Cup in 1998. South Africa's victory comes less than a year since they suffered heartbreak in the T20 World Cup 2024 final to India. And as the Rainbow Nation celebrates, we take a walk down the memory lane to revisit all those times when the Proteas ended up so near yet so far before finally breaking the jinx.
1. 1992 WC, Semifinal vs England: It had more to do with weather than nerves. But SA's fate to be the bridesmaid at major moments began at Sydney. SA needed 22 runs off 7 balls with Brian McMillan and David Richardson at crease.
Skies opened up at juncture and the equation became 22 runs off 1 ball, thanks to a miscommunication on their revised target.
2. 1999 WC, Semifinal vs Australia: The most disastrous day in SA cricket history. They needed just 9 off the final over bowled by Aussie pacer Damien Fleming. Lance Klusener smashed the first two balls to bring the equation down to 1 run off four balls. But after a couple of dot balls, a scamper for a single ended in the run out of last batter Allan Donald.
The match was tied and the Aussies entered the final against Pakistan by virtue of their earlier win over the Proteas in the Super Six.
3. 2003 WC — The Boucher Blunder: Co-host SA needed a win over Sri Lanka at Durban to enter the second phase of Super 6s. SA were 229 for six when the rain stopped the play, the par score under D/L method.
But before umpire S Venkataraghavan called the teams inside, SA wicket keeper batter Mark Boucher blocked the last ball of the 45th over bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan.
At that point the match was tied, and the game never resumed, signalling the end of the road for SA at their home event.
4. 2015 WC semifinal vs New Zealand: SA posted a healthy 281 in a rain-curtailed 43-over-a-side last four clash against the Kiwis, who needed 30 runs off the last three overs.
So, SA finally winning? But Grant Elliot had other ideas as he smashed a last-ball six off Dale Steyn to crush SA dreams. 5. 2022 T20 WC Super 12 vs Netherlands South Africa needed just one win to enter the semifinals. They had a rather easy opponent in the inexperienced Netherlands at Adelaide.
But SA choked while chasing a gettable 159. A spirited Netherlands bundled out SA for 145 to celebrate a 13-run win that ended the former's journey at the ICC showpiece.
6. 2024, T20 WC vs India South Africa: was coasting at 151 for four in 16.1 overs chasing 177 against India at Bridgetown. Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller were well set with SA needing 26 runs off 29 balls with six wickets in hand.
But Hardik Pandya got rid of Klaasen to spark a familiar SA collapse and they ended up at 169 for eight, losing by just 7 runs.
7. 1st Test vs Sri Lanka, Durban, 2019: Skipper Faf du Plessis (90) and Quinton de Kock (55) ensured that SA reached 259 in their second innings, setting the tourists a stiff 304-run target.
SA bowlers led by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj inflicted regular blows as SL slipped 226 for 9.
Easy win then? But the proteas failed to dismiss Kusal Perera (153 not out), who in the company of Vishwa Fernando (6 not out), knocked off the remaining 78 runs for the final wicket.
Daryl Cullinan vs Shane Warne
This is one of the most famous personal rivalries in cricket. The magician from Down Under held a psychological edge over Cullinan, a languid SA batter with oodles of talent. But Warne just bullied him so much that he could amass only 157 runs across seven Tests against the Aussie at an average of 12 while getting dismissed four times.
'Hello Daryl! What colour is the couch?' Warne's sledge to Cullinan, reminding him of his session with a psychologist to counter the leg-spinner is still being talked about. But otherwise, the SA batter retired with 4554 runs from 70 Tests at 44.21 with 14 hundreds.
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