Shane Watson surprised by South Africa’s customary choking – Cricket News Update
Veteran Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, on Sunday expressed surprise over South Africa’s customary choking, after the latter lost their second Super Eight match against Aussies by eight wickets.
AB de Villiers led South African squad came to Sri Lanka at the back of an impressive tour of England, during which they toppled the hosts as World’s No. 1 Test side, and also played well in the ODI and T20 International series.
But they have looked below their best in the ongoing World T20 tournament so far. Though they managed to finish the league stage as Group C toppers, after defeating Zimbabwe and hosts Sri Lanka, they looked completely out of flair in the Super Eight stage.
In the opening match of the second round, the Proteas had pinned Pakistan against the ropes when, defending a modest 133 for 6, they had the opposition reeling at 76 for 7. But a swashbuckling cameo of 32 runs off 17 balls from tailender Umar Gul saw the Men in Green home, with two wickets and two balls to spare.
They then faced a demoralising eight-wicket defeat at the hands of mighty Aussies, with their batsmen once again failing to cope the spin. Xavier Doherty, who was picked ahead of Daniel Christian, returned with three wickets while Shane Watson claimed two scalps to restrict the Proteas to 146 for 5. Watson then pounded the South African bowlers scoring 70 runs off 47 balls, as Australia surpassed the gettable total in the 18th over, to confirm a ticket to the semis.
Watson admitted after the match that he was surprised at South Africa’s choking habit in mega event.
"Every tournament we go into, they've got an unbelievably strong side," the Queensland all-rounder commented after the eight-wicket win over South Africa, in Colombo, on Sunday.
"They've just got an amazing amount of talent. I'm not exactly sure why they can't seem to really perform at the big events over the last 10 or 15 years. Because the quality of players they have, they should really be dominating," he added further.
South Africa will next play India in their final Super Eight fixture on Tuesday, while Australia will take on Pakistan the same day.
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