T20 World Cup – Will South Africa break the Jinx?

For example, the 1992 World Cup was almost certain to win, but its outcome was marred by rain. Those were the days when the Duckworth-Lewis method had yet to make its way into the world of cricket. They lost to Australia because of the absurd situation where they had to score 22 runs with just 1 ball. Similarly, in the 1999 World Cup, South Africa and Australia met once in the Super Six match and again in the semi-final. Both times South Africa failed to record a win as they lost the Super Six match and the semi-final was an exciting tie with the Australians getting the best of the game. In this way, the South African team could not reach the final.

The 2003 World Cup was hosted by South Africa, but they were unable to make it past the group stage due to confusion calculating the number of runs they had to make to chase the opposing team’s score. Shaun Pollock, the team’s then captain, resigned because of the mishap and Graeme Smith replaced him. However, Pollock continued to play for his team. Smith’s captaincy has been able to make the team perform somewhat better than before. To give them what they deserve, some of the main players of the retired team, such as Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes. Hanse Cronje also met an untimely and unfortunate end to both his career and his life. 2004 was not a great year as they lost every tournament except one against the West Indies.

In 2007, the Proteas became the number 1 ranked team, but they didn’t put on a very impressive show at the 2007 World Cup. It was an up-and-down event for them. They had brilliant victories over England, the West Indies, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland, as well as a marginal victory over Sri Lanka. They then went downhill losing terribly to Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh. This saw them fall from the top of the cricket rankings. This was not all. They also lost to Australia in the semi-finals with the lowest score they had ever achieved in the World Cup. They were all out for 149.

Despite all these pitfalls, South Africa has once again emerged as the highest ranked team in one day cricket. They sit at number 5 in the Test cricket rankings. This is the result of a large number of victories they recorded from January to November 2005. The South African team has also had the privilege of being the team with the longest successful run chase and the second highest total scored by a team in a 1 Day International match they played against Australia in 2006.

In the first ICC T20 World Cup that South Africa hosted, they lost to India in the Super 8’s last match and were thus unable to advance any further. What remains to be seen is whether they will be able to get rid of this curse that they have been suffering from for a long time to win major events. The 2009 T20 World Cup taking place in England will be a test of their strength as a team and their ability to face challenges. With Shaun Pollock gone, all eyes will be on newcomers Dale Styen, Albie Morkel and Morne Morkel. Keep an eye on the progress of the South African team if you are a cricket fan. If you cannot go to see the games or even watch them on television due to projection problems. Stay up to date by checking live scores online.