Following a sombre weekend for staunch local sports fans after the heartbreaking defeat to India in the T20 World Cup final, the Proteas are due back home on Wednesday morning.
The Proteas came so close and yet so far in their first World Cup appearance when they succumbed to a seven-run defeat to India at the Kensington Oval in Barbados at the weekend.
The result means that they will have to wait at least two years to fight for another Cricket World Cup trophy.
Gut-wrenching
“It’s just gut-wrenching — that’s really what it is,” said Proteas captain Aiden Makram when describing his feelings after the match.
There was a point in the game where South Africa needed 30 runs from 30 balls to win and make history.
Even the cricket fans who gathered under the lights of the Wanderers Stadium fan park in Johannesburg on a chilly and cloudy day believed that this was the Proteas’ time.
It was not until the 15th over when Hardik Pandya dismissed Heinrich Klaasen for 52 runs, which was followed by the spectre of Jasprit Bumrah, who crushed the South Africans’ hopes and carried the Indians all the way to the finish line.
India allowed to bowl well
“It’s not the first game of cricket that’s been lost with a team needing 30 off 30 — it’s more that India was allowed to bowl well, they’re allowed to field well, and they’re allowed to go from that position to a position of strength,” Markram added.
The Proteas were on an eight-game winning streak at the T20 World Cup before their loss to India, with many of those matches won by fine margins.
Against India, it was déjà vu, as the South Africans would fall short and somewhat fail to hold their nerve as they did almost the entire tournament.
For coach Rob Walter, it will be all about dusting his charges off, focusing on the positives, and going back to the drawing board to prepare the future team for the next World Cup.
