A history of South African heartbreak

It is a day short of the 18th anniversary of when Herschelle Gibbs dropped that catch but the latest implosion by South Africa in a global 50-over tournament shows little has changed for the Proteas in the intervening years.

Nobody can claim they are not a great one-day side, and deservedly entered this tournament as the top-ranked ODI team in the world.

Yet the facts are resolute and South Africa's tag of 'chokers' at major events persists. The Champions Trophy has been kinder to the South Africa psyche than the World Cup cauldron. They did, after all, way back in 1998 win the inaugural ICC KnockOut Trophy, the event that was the precursor to the modern-day Champions Trophy.

Yet since then, they have never progressed beyond the semi-final stage at either the World Cup or Champions Trophy, and more than a handful of their defeats have been in less than flattering circumstances. 

South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has again insisted the issue is not one of mindset, but in the same breadth was at a complete loss as to what lead South Africa into three run outs and a collapse of 8-51 against India at The Oval when they had set such a solid platform.

"We came here to win the game of cricket," de Villiers said after play. "And then we just unravelled as a side out there."

It was, of course, far from the first time a South Africa side has unravelled. A look back at the Rainbow Nation's colourful history in global events suggests it would be a brave pundit to say it was the last. The roll call is a Proteas supporter's nightmare, a litany of tragi-comic circumstances and poor decisions that has manifested into sports ultimate 'monkey on the back' under which the players continue to drown.

1992 World Cup – semi-final

South Africa, allowed into their first World Cup in the run-up to the end of apartheid, were on the cusp of a fairytale appearance in the final when rain stopped play with the Proteas needing 22 off 13 balls for victory. But, by the time they came back on the field just 10 minutes later, the scoreboard showed they needed an impossible 22 off one ball under the rules governing rain-affected matches at the time.

1996 World Cup – quarter-final

South Africa made a selection blunder in omitting Allan Donald for spinner Paul Adams on a seamers' paradise in a Karachi quarter-final, tricked into the call by a cracked pitch. They went to pieces in the field as Brian Lara scored a dashing 111 from 94 balls, hitting 16 boundaries, and the West Indies, a team that had already begun to show dysfunction and had lost to Kenya in the group stage, bundled out the heavily-favoured Proteas by 19 runs.

1999 World Cup – super six stage

Steve Waugh denies he uttered the famous sledge "You've just dropped the World Cup" (it was something more prosaic like "you've just cost South Africa the match") but it's ingrained in cricket folklore now. Herschelle Gibbs famously dropped a simple chance when attempting to flick it up in celebration. Waugh, then on 56, went on to make an unbeaten 120 and guide Australia to the target of 272 in the final over. It was a huge win for the Aussies and set up a semi-final rematch... 

1999 World Cup – semi-final

Shaun Pollock bowled impressively as South Africa, despite 50s from Michael Bevan and Steve Waugh, held Australia to 213. But with leg-spin great Shane Warne taking four wickets, Australia stayed in the match. But it seemed Lance Klusener was set to win it off his own bat, despite having just last man Allan Donald for company. With four balls left, they needed just one to win but, as Klusener set off for a single off a mishit, Donald stayed in his ground, dropped his bat and finally ran as a relay throw involving Mark Waugh and Damien Fleming led to the bowler underarming the ball to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist to complete a run-out. The match was tied but eventual champions Australia went into the final on superior net run rate.

2000 ICC KnockOut – semi-final

South Africa were firm favourites for the semi-final against India of this one-off ICC event in Nairobi, but a splendid innings from Sourav Ganguly who smashed and unbeaten 141 from as many balls put the heat back on the Proteas. Chasing India's 295, South Africa's top order duly wilted as they lost their top four batters in the opening eight overs, and eventually succumbed by 95 runs.

2002 Champions Trophy – semi-final

A semi-final rematch for India and South Africa – this time in Colombo. Again India batted first, and with fifties to Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, plus 49 from Rahul Dravid, India amassed 261. The Proteas looked to be cruising to the victory target as Herschelle Gibbs smashed a century. South Africa had reached 1-192 when Gibbs retired after the 36th over, suffering from heat exhaustion. It was all the invitation Harbhajan Singh needed, taking two wickets in the next over before Sehwag chipped in with three as the Proteas collapsed, losing by 10 runs.   

2003 World Cup – group stage

Effectively a knock-out game against Sri Lanka, the rain again played a hand in South Africa's demise described by Jaques Kallis as "perhaps the worst of all" when Shaun Pollock got his Duckworth-Lewis calculations horribly wrong in Durban. With rain coming fast, the calculations came from the dressing room for Klusenar and Mark Boucher – 229 was needed by the end of the 45th over. Boucher, having hit Muralidaran for six to reach 229, celebrated then blocked the final ball of the 45th over and turned down a single as the heavens opened. As the rain tumbled, the Proteas jubilation turned to confusion and despair – 229 was the score for a tie, not a win. The tournament hosts were out.

As an aside, Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara's chriping at Protea skipper Pollock as he came out to bat was textbook mental disintegration, chattering away about "lots of expectation, lots of pressure on the skipper" and "he's going to let his whole country down if he fails" and so on. It worked. Pollock ran himself out, turning a ball to square leg and Sangakkara set off after it, throwing to Muralidaran at the bowler's end for the run out. But there has finally been at least one skeleton removed from the closet now, with the pair burying the hatchet as co-commentators during the 2017 Champions Trophy.

2004 Champions Trophy – group stage

A place in the semi-finals was on the line as South Africa met the West Indies at The Oval in their final group match. Herschelle Gibbs had blazed a century on a slow pitch to lead South Africa to 6-246. English summer rain forced the second innings to be played on the reserve day, and the match had been set for a nail-biting finish. Until Shaun Pollock's 10th and final over, the 47th of the run chase. Pollock leaded 19 runs to Ricardo Powell and Shiv Chanderpaul, and the West Indies cantered home by five wickets.  

2006 Champions Trophy – semi-final

Captain Graeme Smith called correctly to win the toss but then errored in opting to bat first when previous matches at Jaipur had suggested the best of the batting conditions were in the evening. But still, South Africa made the most of it to reach 8-258. Enter Chris Gayle, who took a healthy liking to Shaun Pollock's gentle mediums and creamed five overs for 34 runs, literally smashing him out of the attack. Gayle was on a roll, and his unbeaten 133 helped the Windies roll to a six-wicket win with six overs remaining.  

2007 World Cup – semi-final

In 2007 in a much-hyped Anzac Day semi-final the weight of expectation hung heavily on the South Africans' shoulders as they ran into a rampant Australia in St Lucia. South Africa's run to the semi-final had been built on a solid foundation of chasing runs, but some pre-game barbs in the media from Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting had inspired a change of tactic. Graeme Smith opted to bat first when the coin fell in his favour and were duly blasted away by the pace of Shaun Tait and the nagging line and length of Glenn McGrath to be all out for 149. Ponting would later write in his captain's diary: "When Graeme Smith said 'we'll have a bat' I immediately thought 'gee, they must be desperate'." South Africa tried to fundamentally change the approach that had brought them regular success, in the biggest game of their collective careers. As Ponting wrote, "South Africa just played dumb." Michael Clarke's assured unbeaten 60 ensured Australia made light work of the chase.

2009 Champions Tropy – group stage

Expectations were high for the Proteas with the 2009 tournament on home soil. But this would prove one of their most dismal tournaments. A defeat to Sri Lanka in a rain-affected match brought back ill memories, but a thumping win against New Zealand had restored confidence. That evaporated as, with a home semi-final on the line, South Africa's bowlers allowed the unlikely Owais Shah to steal a march and smash 98. Shah, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan fifties helped England to 323. And despite a valiant century from skipper Graeme Smith, South Africa's batting fell apart around him. England captain Andrew Strauss, unburdened by the modern approach of taking the moral high ground, denied the cramping Smith use of a runner, which predictably ended in a run out, as the tail folded and England won by 22 runs. 

2011 World Cup – quarter-final

South Africa had bossed the group stages and entered the quarter-final heavily favoured over a Black Caps side that had just snuck into the final eight. Jesse Ryder hit 83 and the New Zealanders limped to a well below par 221. South Africa were cruising at 2-108 when Kallis was well caught by Jacob Oram on the fence.

When Faf du Plessis called de Villiers through for a suicide single and ran their star batsman out, the Kiwis climbed into the young Protea, surrounding him, impressing on him the enormity of what he'd done. South Africa couldn't handle it and crumbled, losing their last eight wickets for 64 and were bundled out by 49 runs.

2013 Champions Trophy – semi-final

In the lead-up to this match against England, AB de Villiers spoke passionately of South Africa's chance to shed their chokers tag. Then they lost 8-80 – de Villiers with a nine-ball duck – and were all out for 175 as James Tredwell claimed 3-19 in a player-of-the-match performance. South Africa-born Jonathan Trott smashed an unbeaten 82 and England won by seven wickets with more than 12 overs spare. "I think we did choke in the game," coach Gary Kirsten said afterwards. "You've got to accept that's what it is. It's definitely a dark mist that hangs over South African cricket in knockout events."

2015 World Cup – semi-final

First the good news: South Africa had finally won a knock-out match, beating Sri Lanka in a quarter-final. But thoughts that this would be a turning point in the country's record proved short-lived, and the harsh reality is some of this blame must lie with external forces. There was controversy behind the scenes before this semi-final even began: South Africa's complicated objectives of racial transformation saw a half-fit Vernon Philander injected into the XI at the expense of Kyle Abbott, who had been outstanding. Later reports suggested the change was made at the behest of South Africa's sports minister and captain AB de Villiers had nearly withdrawn from the game in protest.

Nevertheless, we were treated to a thriller in Auckland. In a rain-interrupted innings, South Africa didn't break stride, adding 65 in their final five overs to set New Zealand a revised victory target of 298.

Having endured a Brendon McCullum blitzkrieg, his dismissal sparked a wobble with Martin Guptill run out in a horrible mix-up with Ross Taylor. South Africa had had more than their fair share of chances to deliver the knock out blow to the Black Caps: De Villiers fumbled at the stumps to miss running out Corey Anderson, who put on a century partnership with Grant Elliott; wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock missed a gather to blow another clear run-out chance; substitute fielder Farhaan Behardien and JP Duminy nearly collided in the deep and neither caught the late-innings opportunity.

With two balls left, New Zealand needed five to win. A nerveless Elliott sealed the win by smashing fast bowler Dale Steyn for six off the second-last delivery.

2016 T20 World Cup – group stage

The Proteas started well by putting up 229 against England, who ran it down to set a chasing record, and South Africa's bowlers conceded 20 wides. Needing to beat West Indies to stay in the tournament, the batting collapsed – an early run-out saw AB de Villiers dropped down to No.5 but he was in before the Powerplay was over anyway. Still, West Indies needed 20 off the final two overs but Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada failed to defend it, with Carlos Brathwaite smashing a final-over six to seal the win.

2017 Champions Trophy – group stage

The world No.1 ODI side coming into the UK-based tournament, South Africa had talked up their chances of shedding history and claiming this trophy and skipper de Villiers spoke with one eye on the 2019 World Cup at the same venues. A shock defeat to eighth-ranked Pakistan, a hamstring injury cloud handing over the captain, and a showdown for a semi-final spot with defending champions India proved too much for the Proteas. From the solid ground of 2-140, the Proteas folded to the tune of 8-51. Three calamatious run-outs characterised their batting – two of them due to poor decisions from Faf du Plessis that saw the demise of de Villiers then David Miller – and a lacklustre bowling effort resulted in a chastening eight-wicket defeat wtih 12 overs unbowled.

2019 World Cup – group stage

South Africa came into this tournament openly admitting their problems at previous events were mental and they would be taking a low-key, low-stress approach to this World Cup, then promptly lost their first three games and were derided for their "meekness and passivity" on the field, with defeat to Bangladesh a particularly low point. Then Dale Steyn was ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury he carried into the tournament, having not bowled a ball. To add salt to the wounds, revelations then emerged that star batsman AB de Villiers had offered to come out of retirement in the lead up to the World Cup, only to be turned down by the selectors.

A fifth loss against Pakistan confirmed their exit at the group stage and captain Faf du Plessis labelled it "borderline embarassing". "We are a mediocre team at the moment because we are making the same mistakes," du Plessis said. "One step forward and two steps back is not a good team. The guys are playing with low confidence and making the same mistakes. It just rolls on, it’s such a snowball effect," he said, adding the exit was the lowest point of his career.

2021 T20 World Cup – group stage

A 'bittersweet' ending to a winning campaign for South Africa, who were eliminated on net run rate despite having the same number of wins as the two semi-finalists from their group, and being the only team to beat England in the group stage. The tournament was not without controversy though – a bizarre dismissal for Quinton de Kock in their first-up defeat to Australia put their campaign on the back foot, then their star player was a surprise absence in a controversy over a Cricket South Africa directive for players take the knee in an anti-racism gesture. But the team won in his absence, then stuck together as de Kock made a U-turn on his stance, beating Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and England to finish equal top of the group on points, with four wins from five games, but with a net run rate 0.477 shy of a spot in the final four.

2022 T20 World Cup – group stage

Another sorry tale of 'what ifs' and 'could have beens'. A washout against Zimbabwe in their first match, when leading, would come back to bite them. They were the only side that managed to beat India in the group stage, a win orchestrated by a formidable bowling attack that had them pencilled in for a semi-final spot and marked as serious title contenders. But that same attack turned then turned to pop-guns when it mattered. Well on top against Pakistan, they allowed Shadab Khan to fire a partnership of 82 in less than six overs and lost the game. With a semi-final spot on the line, they were caught napping. Coach Mark Boucher pointed to the 10.30am game as an excuse for their sleepy start as captain Temba Bavuma opted to bowl first and saw his side leak 158 runs with speahead Kagiso Rabada taken for 37 in three overs. Their batting never got out of first gear, and a brilliant running catch from former Protea Roelof van der Merwe turned the match firmly in the Netherlands' favour.

2023 ODI World Cup – semi-final

A fifth exit at the semi-final stage of a 50-over World Cup, and the third time it's been at the hands of Australia. And while there was no 'choke' the Proteas can put this one down to a timid approach to the game that was in stark contrast to their seasoned rivals. With rain threatening Kolkata and amid gloomy skies and on a wearing pitch, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and boldly stuck to their gameplan to bat first that had proved so successful in the group stages. But it backfired spectacularly. Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood had the ball hooping, Bavuma fell without scoring, Pat Cummins took a classic catch backpedalling when a tied-down Quinton de Kock lashed out and skied a ball high towards mid-on, and soon the Proteas were 4-24.

It was nearly much worse - David Miller's first ball edge fell just short of second slip, but a timely rain delay allowed the Proteas to regroup and they recovered to post 212, with Miller hitting a century. Then they lost their nerve all over again with the new ball in hand - Marco Jansen delivered a series of wides, Kagiso Rabada overstepped and was smashed for a six from the free hit - as Aussie openers Travis Head and David Warner launched a blitz that knocked off more than a quarter of the required runs in just six overs. The Proteas put down four catches early on, but to their credit fought back through their spinners. But in the end, the cool head of Aussie captain Cummins steered Australia home for a three-wicket win and condemned South Africa to more soul searching.