Review of South Africa’s performance in the ICC World Cup 2011
There was no change of fortune for the Proteas in the ICC World Cup 2011, as they failed to remove the popular, but hurtful tag of ‘chokers’. South Africa’s dreams of being crowned as the world champions were thrashed by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 in the quarter-final
at Mirpur.
Graeme Smith and company were rated as one of the hot favourites for the showpiece event and rightly so, especially considering the balance of their team in all the departments of the game. However, they could not live up to the expectations of their nation
and succumbed under pressure.
The Proteas started their World Cup campaign in style, as they comprehensively defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in the warm-up match. South Africa finished at the top of pool B of the tournament after the group stage with 10 points from six games.
South Africa looked the best team of the event before the knock-out matches, as they defeated big teams like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013.
History repeated itself, as South Africa is yet to win a single knock-out match in World Cup history even after six consecutive appearances in the showpiece event since 1992. Same was the case in the quarter-final, as they were beaten by a much weaker team
in shape of New Zealand. South African cricket officials have to assess the situation and counter the problem appropriately, as they have failed to handle the pressure of a big occasion.
Previously, the South African bowling attack never had such tremendous balance and usually had an attack full of fast bowlers and lacked variety. However, this was not the case in this World Cup, as they had a bunch of quality spinners along with the best
fast bowling pair in the shape of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morne-Morkel-c77722.
The inclusion of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Johan-Botha-c67173 also bowled well in patches and provided variation
and different options to the South African management.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 was a revelation in the tournament, as he scored a couple of magnificent hundreds and proved that he is one of the best limited overs batsmen in the world. Smith himself was not in the best of form in the mega event, but the rest of the top
order like Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis made up for his poor performances and took the responsibility on their shoulders.
However, the only weakness in the South African batting was the lack of depth, as they played five specialist bowlers in almost all the major games. There was a time when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lance-Klusener-c72175 and Shaun Pollock,
but not anymore.
Smith has now stepped down as the captain of the South African team from limited overs cricket. Johan Botha was seen as the appropriate substitute for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Smith-c90599, but he no longer holds a permanent place in the playing eleven ever since Imran Tahir has arrived
on the scene. It creates another headache for the South African selector to choose the right man to lead the national team in limited overs cricket.
South African fans had their hearts broken after the quarter-final defeat, but they can hope for a better future ahead, as the Proteas have a lot of talented players at the domestic level. They can bring laurels for their country, but a big question mark
remains. Will they be able to absorb the pressure of big matches? It remains to be seen.
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