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South Africa suffered yet another defeat in a knockout game of a global event but their performance against Australia in the second World Cup semifinal on Thursday was far from a choke, feels head coach Rob Walter From being a precarious 24\/4, South Africa rode on David Miller’s counter-attacking century to post a respectable 212 before Australia survived some tense moments to chase down the target in 47.2 overs.<\/p>\n
Walter provided his personal definition of a “choke,” stating, “for me, a choke is losing a game that you are in a position to win.<\/p>\n
“In this instance, we were behind right from the word go, and we actually fought our way back into the competition and put up a score that gave us a chance,” Walter said in the post-match media conference.<\/p>\n
We’re 30-40 runs short<\/strong><\/p>\n Walter said his team was 30-40 runs short.<\/p>\n “And then, again, they (Australia) got us to a flier. We fought and we put ourselves back into the game,” he said, adding 30 more runs would have made the difference.<\/p>\n “Of course, we were 30 runs or 40 runs short, but still having them seven down.<\/p>\n “So, for me, there’s nothing even remotely close to a choke that happened out there today. It’s a serious contest between two good teams of the tournament.<\/p>\n “It’s gutting to lose semifinal. It was incredibly serious challenge in first 12 overs. To come back from 12\/4 the with the way Klaasen and Miller put together, it showed 270 was the total.<\/p>\n “Even 250 would have proved to be a serious total. First 10 overs on either side separated the game. But there were a lot of positives to take home,” Walter added.<\/p>\n Asked if they erred in batting first after winning the toss, he said: “To be honest, even the commentators that I’ve spoken to, no one could predict the pitch to play like that for the first five overs.<\/p>\n “And had it played as we expected it to, then we would have backed ourselves to get 270.<\/p>\n “And once we got 270, because it was turning so much in the evening, we knew that that was going to be our end into the game.<\/p>\n “And ultimately it was, really. We just didn’t have enough runs to work with. It’s easy to say in the back end of losing, but I think the contest would have been even a touch closer than it really was.<\/p>\n KG has bruised heel<\/strong><\/p>\n The coach further revealed that their pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada had a bruised heel which proved to be a setback. Rabada could bowl only six overs returning with 1\/41.<\/p>\n “KG had a bruised heel, that’s why we didn’t see as much of him in the contest as we would have expected to.<\/p>\n “If you’re watching him on the park, you’re seeing him limping around. So he bowled, he just wasn’t able to deliver 100%.<\/p>\n “And obviously with that, it also led to bringing Aiden on, and Aiden was outstanding the whole way through the game.<\/p>\n “Obviously, a fit and able KG has shown throughout this competition that he was one of our leading bowlers and has been for some time.<\/p>\n “It was a pity, and it was a defining moment in the game to be dead honest.” PTI TAP BS BS<\/p>\n