World Test Championship final: After years of agony, it's finally time for Africa

India Today

14-06-2025

After 27 years of near misses, South Africa's moment in the sun has finally arrived as they got their hands on the elusive ICC title, which had been the reason behind their endless pain and heartbreak over the years. Tema Bavuma and his men finally rose to the occasion, unlike their predecessors and etched their name in the history books by lifting just the second ICC title for their country.advertisementHowever, the journey between two titles wasn't the most memorable one for the Proteas, who had to endure eternal agony in pursuit of their one true dream. Every time, South Africa reached closer to attaining the elusive glory, they had to bear the brunt of their ill-fate, brain fade moments and inability to seize crucial opportunities.WTC Final 2025: Match Report | As it Happened
As South Africa finally celebrate their historic triumph, here's a walk down memory lane to incidents when they had to swallow the bitter pill of being 'chokers' time and again.1. 1992 World Cup semi-finalA bizarre rain rule saw Kepler Wessels' team get knocked out of the tournament as a brief rain delay brought the equation down to an improbable 22 runs off 1 ball. South Africa were in the game chasing 253, requiring 21 runs to win from 13 balls with four wickets in hand. However, the rain interruption ended all of their hopes, bringing an unfortunate end to their maiden World Cup campaign.2. 1999 World Cup semi-finaladvertisementNeeding just one run to go into the semi-final in last three balls with just one wicket in hand, the stage was set for South Africa to enter their maiden World Cup final. Lance Klusener (31* off 16) was determined to take his team into the summit clash. However, a terrible miscommunication with Allan Donald left South Africa supporters distraught as an unfortunate run out ended the game in a tie.Since, Australia had finished above them in the Super sixes stages, they progressed to the final and won the trophy, while South Africa were left ruing a golden chance to become World Champions.3. 2015 World Cup semi-finalHaving set a target of 298 runs for New Zealand in a rain-curtailed 43-over game, South Africa fancied their chances to enter the maiden World Cup final. However, Brendon McCullum (59 off 26), Corey Anderson (58 off 57) and Grant Elliott (84* off 73) had other plans and guided New Zealand to their maiden final of an ICC event courtesy of some bizarre errors in the field by the Proteas. The loss left the entire team in despair as players let their emotions out openly in public.4. 2023 ODI World Cup semi-finalA David Miller century helped the Proteas recover from an early collapse and post a total of 212 in 50 overs. Defending the low total, South African bowlers gave their all as they hunted in pack to trigger Australia's collapse. However, once again, the effort didn't prove to be enough as crucial knocks from Mitchell Starc (16*) and Pat Cummins (14*) took Australia over the line.5. 2024 T20 World Cup finalNeeding 27 runs to win off the last 28 balls, South Africa had the T20 World Cup firmly in their grasp with Heinrich Klaasen tearing away the Indian bowling attack. Much to everyone's surprise, Indian bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah, scripted a comeback for the ages and ended their 11-year-long ICC trophy drought, inflicting the same old agony on South Africans.