Proteas were never really CWC contenders

[vvvslaxman]

http://www.sport24.co.za/Cricket/CricketWorldCup2015/Proteas-were-never-really-CWC-contenders-20150324 Proteas were never really CWC contenders 2015-03-24 14:52 SHARE THIS Dale Steyn (AFP) Cape Town - South Africa never really "hit their straps" at the Cricket World Cup and their departure from the tournament at the semi-final stage should not have come as a surprise. With the Proteas' 2015 Cricket World Cup campaign abruptly halted on Tuesday, the chorus of "what ifs" and "but what about that's" have begun to circulate as pundits and fans alike are left scratching their heads at how such a talented bunch of individuals again managed to squander an opportunity to make the final of world's cricket's biggest event. The 2015 Cricket World Cup will be remember from a South African point of view for failing to make the final - losing to New Zealand, in a match that had it all. A hostile crowd greeted the Proteas and the hosts were never going to let their guests from the south of Africa get to far ahead in the contest - in the end a brilliant innings from former South African Under-19 all-rounder, Grant Elliott, finished the job for New Zealand. The question remains, did South Africa really deserve a place in the final? This side's record at the tournament was poor in comparison to the team who dumped them out of the competition. New Zealand remain unbeaten after the Eden Park thriller, having got past the likes of Australia and Sri Lanka, while also beating England, Bangladesh and minnows, Afghanistan and Scotland. In total, the Proteas only won four of their fixtures at the World Cup despite playing in conditions expected to aid the chances of the national team. The AB de Villiers led team, in fact, managed to beat just one side truly capable of contending for the title of world champions in the entire tournament. Perhaps, the crushing win over Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals, provided a false hope that this side was could either (a) actually be in-form and contest the final or (b) go toe-to-toe with any of the tournament's three leading sides - the two co-hosts and India. With the spotlight continuously shone on Quinton de Kock's poor form, several key players including Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander all fell short of the expectations placed on them and did not have a great time in Australia and New Zealand. That's a staggering 4 out of 11 players struggling to raise their game in the majority of the team's fixtures. The side also struggled to find an adequate solution to the troublesome fifth bowler conundrum and this again proved costly as De Villiers was left with little option should any one bowler struggle during a game. Russell Domingo's side were never at full strength, both on-and-off the field throughout the event (and for a variety of reasons too), and this was made abundantly clear when the Proteas were humbled by India (lost by 130 runs) and capitulated against Pakistan (lost by 29 runs) in the pool stages. A small dose of realism, a true reflection of the team's current form and it should've been clear to see that it was always going to take something extra special to see this side make the final. The Proteas fell agonisingly short against New Zealand despite the heroics of David Miller, Faf du Plessis and De Villiers - in the end losing the thrilling semi-final by four wickets and with just one ball to spare after Duckworth-Lewis adjusted the South African total.

[vvvslaxman]

Jim King - March 24, 2015 at 10:57Report commentComments Policy My eyes are still swollen from crying ...let me start by blaming jacob n Jan van r for bringing cricket to our shours Poor fans have to go through every world cup

[HippoSucks]

South Africa was the most deserving contender for the World Cup according to me. They have two of the world's best ODI batsman, 5 good batsman who can hit the ball very hard, and 3 world class bowlers. Amla didn't really struggle. He did well in the group stages.

[adi B]

i predicted india,aus,nzl and srl to be the semi finalist some months ago.i never consider saf as the tournament favorites especially with this format where you need to win 3 KO in a row,absolutely not!! only positive for saf was that they broke the KO jinx

[SLICKR392]

^ Deserving how? Having good players doesn't mean they deserve anything. NZ were the better team on the day, and deservingly went through.

[P.B.]

No such thing as 'deserving' to win. If you're good enough on the day you'll win if you're not you will lose. They were given couple of chances to take Elliots wicket but they didn't, can't blame anyone else not even rain.

[jusarrived]

South Africa was the most deserving contender for the World Cup according to me. They have two of the world's best ODI batsman, 5 good batsman who can hit the ball very hard, and 3 world class bowlers. Amla didn't really struggle. He did well in the group stages.

:hysterical:

[jusarrived]

The team is too dependent on AB , even he rarely scores when they chase . The rest of the batting is only good at bashing minnows . SA wer lucky to be in semis .

[vijay50]

i predicted india' date='aus,nzl and srl to be the semi finalist some months ago.i never consider saf as the tournament favorites especially with this format where you need to win 3 KO in a row,absolutely not!! only positive for saf was that they broke the KO jinx[/quote'] Yeah but bowl out said that even if they win QF there is a history of saffa getting knocked out in semi which happened.:cantstop:

[HippoSucks]

:hysterical:

I was thinking about the series against West Indies for some reason.

[Sid_SuhaiL]

South Africa was the most deserving contender for the World Cup according to me. They have two of the world's best ODI batsman, 5 good batsman who can hit the ball very hard, and 3 world class bowlers. Amla didn't really struggle. He did well in the group stages.

Well its more about the performance in tournament than the reputation . Only ABD , Morkel & somewhat Tahir , Abbott did well for them. & Amla was one of the biggest failures , even in grp stage he did almost nothing other than bashing Irish trundlers.

[bowl_out]

Yeah but bowl out said that even if they win QF there is a history of saffa getting knocked out in semi which happened.:cantstop:

Sad that it happened though

[gattaca]

They lost against indian and pakistan. They are really lucky to go past quarters after SRL thrown away a simple match coz of sanga.

[ThePhenomenal1]

they weren't but had a chance,the win just wasn't for them

[jusarrived]

I was thinking about the series against West Indies for some reason.

Amla was never good at chasing , but in this WC he took his minnow bashing to another level . Pretty much every match he gout out of a short ball .

[SLICKR392]

No such thing as 'deserving' to win. If you're good enough on the day you'll win if you're not you will lose. They were given couple of chances to take Elliots wicket but they didn't, can't blame anyone else not even rain.

Spot on!

[South_Paw]

If SA deserves, then SL deserves it too. Can we say Indian team of 2007 deserved that world cup since we had big names?

[cowboysfan]

they have world class players but they cant put it all together,they have had better teams than this in the WC which have actually done worse so this is kinda progress for them.

[vijay50]

There is nothing called deserving. The teams which have multiple players stepping up in knock outs, good fielding , variety in their bowling , led by captain with flair and who can withstand pressure can go on usually to win WC.

[Iconoclast]

Very good team on paper but only a handful of them preformed this tournament- AB, Tahir, Miller and the guy they dropped.