Proteas’ weird World Cup history adds to tension before West Indies clash

South Africa’s final Super Eight match against the West Indies is not officially a knockout game but a defeat could see their T20 World Cup end before the real thing happens later this week. 

The irony won’t be lost on anyone should the Proteas suffer just one defeat and exit the tournament, which would allow England, who have lost twice, one of those to South Africa, to sneak into the final four. 

South Africa have ridden their luck at times in the last few weeks — the last ball wins against Bangladesh and Nepal could very easily have gone the other way. That they find themselves in a virtual must-win situation on Monday morning at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua (2.30am SA time) is also a result of their own sloppiness with the ball against the US and England. 

The gave away a grand total 116 runs in a combined seven overs, which were bowled after the 14th over in those two matches, which severely damaged their net run rate. England, should thump the US on Sunday afternoon (4.30pm), thereby joining South Africa on four points, but also improving their net run rate, which would put them above the Proteas.

The West Indies did crush the US in the teams’ Super Eight clash meaning any kind of win for them, combined with victory for England, would send the Proteas home. 

Such are the quirks of this World Cup tournament. And when it comes to South Africa, those tournament idiosyncrasies always seem to take more bizarre twists. 

It was the Proteas who in 2021 in the UAE T20 World Cup lost just once and were still knocked out of the competition while beating England in their last group match. In 2007, they could afford a loss in their final group game to India, but then lost by too much and were bounced out of the tournament on home soil. 

The West Indies have an excellent recent record against the Proteas, winning five of the last seven T20 Internationals between the teams, including a series win in South Africa last year and pre-World Cup clean sweep in Jamaica. 

With a partisan crowd expected to roar them on at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, the Proteas will face a tall order. “It’s important not to get too ahead of ourselves, we have been very focused on our processes, taking care of each and every game and letting the rest take care of itself,” said Keshav Maharaj about the last Super Eight clash.

South Africa along with India, are the only two unbeaten teams at the tournament, and Maharaj feels the painful defeats suffered by previous Proteas teams at World Cups — including last year’s ODI competition, where they lost in the semifinal to Australia, has strengthened the players’ resolve.

“This team believes we can be great. In the last World Cup, we bowed out in the semifinals but from that hurt we built a lot of character. We’re not looking at the negatives, but highlighting positives as much as possible.”