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Unbeaten South Africa and India won their all games in the group stage, Super 8, and semifinal. However, the Proteas have an extra win as India has one game against Canada washed out by rain.
In the 2nd Semi-final, India faced a rain-curtailed match against England and finally avenged their last T20 World Cup knockout in 2022. Inaugural Champion India finally made it to the ICC T20 Final after a decade.
South Africa faced host West Indies in the Super 8 Final which could have been an exit from the tournament. In a rain-shortened match, Proteas beat West Indies to secure a semi-final ticket winning by 3 wickets in a close game.
Finally, shake off their ‘choker’ tag against Afghanistan in the SF 1 and registered a history for reaching the ICC Final for the first time. Aiden Markram and his Co. finally broke the curse of 7 consecutive ICC knockout (ODI + T20I) losses for the 8th time in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
South Africa Records in Knockout Stages
So let’s revisit South Africa’s painful past at the ICC World Cup knockouts in ODI + T20I-
1992 ODI World Cup Semi-Final vs England
After the ICC banned South Africa due to apartheid in 1970 for 22 years, the team emerged again in the 1992 ODI World Cup and played a thrilling game against England in Sydney. However, rain interrupted the game and South Africa failed to chase 252, scoring only 232 in 45 overs.
1996 ODI World Cup Quarter-Final vs West Indies
The second time, South Africa almost got while chasing West Indies’ 265-run target at the National Stadium in Karachi. Daryll Cullinan (69), Andrew Hudson, and captain Hansie Cronje (40) played well, a notable contribution in 245 but failed to achieve the target.
1999 ODI World Cup Semi-Final vs Australia
This left a scar on South Africa’s Cricket history while playing the semifinal against Australia at Edgbaston in Birmingham. South Africa was chasing a 214-run target leaving only 9 runs in an overs. Lance Klusener, who was playing well, hit the first two balls for 4s and equalled the score of 213. Unfortunately, Allan Donald was run out and the game was tied. Due to Australia’s supremacy in the previous match of the Super Sixes stage, they proceeded ahead into the ICC World Cup.
2007 ODI World Cup Semi-Final vs Australia
Once Again, Australia defeated Proteas in the knockout in Gros Islet, dismissing the whole team for 149. Unsurprisingly, Australia achieved the target in just 30 overs beating South Africa by 7 wickets with 111 balls remaining.
2009 T20 World Cup Semi-Final vs Pakistan
Before reaching the top four, Proteas defeated top-class teams New Zealand, England, West Indies, and India. Despite Jacques Kallis’ (64) and Jean-Paul Duminy’s (44) notable contributions in 142, South Africa wasn’t able to chase Pakistan’s target of 150 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
2011 ODI World Cup Quarter-Final vs New Zealand
Blackcaps won the toss while batting first and set a target of 222 for the Proteas in Mirpur. It looked like an easy game to win for South Africa but they choked and lost the game by 49 runs. Despite having a strong batting lineup including Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, and JP Duminy South Africa lost against New Zealand.
2014 T20 World Cup Semi-Final vs India
Once again knockout curse chased South Africa into the 2014 T20 World Cup semifinal against India in Mirpur. This time India hunted down Proteas’ target of 172 and scored 176 in 19 overs.
2015 ODI World Cup Semi-Final vs New Zealand
South Africa assembled with the best players all in their top form couldn’t even break the curse. Faf du Plessis (82), AB de Villiers (65), Rilee Rossouw (39), and David Miller (45) all scored a huge 281 for 5. However, New Zealand chased the target in 42.5 overs and scored 299 winning by 4 wickets.
2023 ODI World Cup Semi-Final vs Australia
Last year, South Africa entered the semifinal with confidence winning all-league stage matches. However, in a crucial semifinal against Australia failed to defend their small target of 212 and lost by 3 wickets.
For the first time, South Africa will play the Final against India in the ICC T20 World Cup. The SA vs IND match 55 will take place at Kensington Oval Barbados on Saturday at 8:00 PM IST.
