South Africa - The Chokers

South Africa is back in the cricket news. It was in a valiant effort put by the South African batsmen in the 2nd innings of the 1st test match against England. Although, they are a very good side and have shown such boldness a numerous times in cricket before, they have failed miserably when it comes to the big encounters i.e the crucial matches in the World Cup.

In 1992, South Africa were hot favourites to win the World Cup. But alas! Everything went upside down, when South Africa lost in the semi-finals to England. It was a controversial end to their bid to become World Champions, as the rain interruption made their required 22 runs to get from 13 balls to be revised, to get 21 runs from just 1 ball.

Then in 1996, South Africa were once again one of the favourites to win the World Cup. But, the West Indian start batsman, Brian Charles Lara, ruined the party in the quarter finals by making a brilliant century.

And then it was the 1999 World Cup which seemed to be their tournament. But, their hopes were once again torn into pieces, when Alan Donald got run out by attempting a needless single in their semi-final match against the Australians, who went onto to become the World Champions.

Afterwards, it was 2003 where the World Cup was hosted in home soil. This was to be their best chance to get hold of that nice World Cup. But, to everyone's surprise they didn't even make it to the second round, which was called as the Super Six.

Then came 2007. It was a tournament with mixed sucess for them. They lost to minnows Bangladesh convincingly in the second round and almost lost to Sri Lanka when Lasith Maling picked 4 wickets in a row. Anyway, they somehow managed to make it to the semi-finals. But, it didn't last long-- Australia convincingly beat them in the big game.

In the same year, South Africa hosted a World Cup of a different format. It was the first ever T20 World Cup-- another chance to get hold of that big trophy. But, it never became a reality. They were once again thrown out in the 2nd round.

So, still South Africa's woes continue. One would wonder whether someone has cast a spell on them. But, whether a spell is cast on them or not, undoubtedly, all of the South African fans will only be in joy, the day their team brings that Big Trophy home.