The South African cricket team once again missed the bus to the finals of the World Cup as they lost the semi-final match to Australia by 3 wickets. The match was played yesterday at Eden Gardens, Kolkata and Temba Bavuma-led team wasn’t able to get rid of the chokers tag as they could not handle the pressure of an important match.
South Africa played good cricket throughout the tournament barring one or two exceptions as they were the second on the points table and they emerged as one of the most dangerous teams on the basis of their performances in the league table.
South Africa won the toss and decided to bat first against Australia but their start was disastrous as their in-form batter Quinton de Kock got out for just 3 runs and skipper Temba Bavuma also got out for duck. Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram also got out early after scoring 6 runs and 10 runs, respectively and the Proteas were reeling at the score of 24/4 in 12 overs.
Heinrich Klaasen (47 runs, 48 balls, 4 fours & 2 sixes) and David Miller (101 runs, 116 balls, 8 fours & 5 sixes) not only stabilized the innings but also ensured that their team at least put up a respectable total on the scoreboard. The whole team got out at the score of 212 runs in 49.4 overs and the Australians started with style by smashing 60 runs in 6 overs before David Warner got out for 29 runs (18 balls, 1 four & 4 sixes). Though 213 was never a difficult target for Australia, still the South African bowlers tried their best and sent back 5 Aussie batters by the time their score was 137 in 24 overs. However, the Australian tailenders batted sensibly and made their team win the match by 3 wickets with 16 balls still left in their innings.
While South Africa failed big time with bat, their fielding was also lackluster as they dropped a good number of catches. The captaincy of Temba Bavuma was also criticized a lot and what has angered people more is the fact that he has failed with bat as well in this tournament.
The social media was particularly angry with skipper Temba Bavuma and here are some selected reactions:
#TembaBavuma in this #WorldCup 😂 pic.twitter.com/u6tfCWOa0j
— गायक अनुज धीमान (राष्ट्रभक्त🚩🇮🇳)🚩🚩🚩100%FB (@Anuj_2289) November 17, 2023
Lost in Semi-Final of 1992 WC.
Tie in Semi-Final of 1999 WC.
Lost in Semi-Final of 2007 WC.
Lost in Semi-Final of 2015 WC.
Lost in Semi-Final of 2023 WC.– Heart breaking for South Africa…!!! pic.twitter.com/yWY9jjQbou
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 16, 2023
Please stop posting negative tweets about Temba Bavuma, I can't like them all. #SAvsAUS pic.twitter.com/fZ7oCjuMBS
— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) November 16, 2023
Lord tembu leading his team to semi finals by doing nothing 😂 temba bavuma #Semifinals #savsaus #tembabavuma #chokers pic.twitter.com/DxRL4OPOdZ
— ishoeapeed 🙃 (@dia68898) November 14, 2023
We will miss you Lord Bavuma !🥲#SAvsAUS #TembaBavuma pic.twitter.com/o5k5x2JIGq
— 🇮🇳 Tanmay 2.0 🔱 🕉️ (@Divine_Sanatan) November 16, 2023
Three biggest mistakes by South Africa in World Cup 2023:
– Making Bavuma Captain.
– Selecting Bavuma in playing 11.
– Selecting Bavuma in World Cup Squad.— Incognito (@Incognito_qfs) November 16, 2023
When Temba Bavuma was 20 year's old💀#tembabavuma #Cricket pic.twitter.com/GULnMkPyjy
— DANISH🚩 (@daniich02) November 13, 2023
https://twitter.com/pitaji00/status/1725383271230668818
When it comes to batting, taking DRS and deciding what to do after winning the toss pic.twitter.com/ZIDT6DRQ8U
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) November 16, 2023
Now Australia and India will clash for the title in the final match which will be played on 19 November at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.