South Africa are on an unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup. Except for the double Super Over against Afghanistan, they’ve steamrolled top teams, including India, whom they beat by 76 runs. On a seven-match winning streak, South Africa hopes to shed their ‘chokers’ tag.
The legacy of that tag has followed the Proteas for the past two decades. It started with the 1999 World Cup loss to Australia and persisted until the 2024 T20 World Cup, losing the final to India in the Caribbean.
Now, the reigning World Test Championship winners are the team to beat in the T20 World Cup being played in India and Sri Lanka. Their winning run continued with a 5-wicket win over Zimbabwe on Sunday. Coach Shukri Conrad was asked if this brings pressure and the much-dreaded reminder of being chokers?
“There’s always pressure. I think it’s what you do with that pressure and how you shift the pressure.
As for the C-word [chokers], I think there’s another one for that – ‘cupcakes. ‘ I’m sure we kind of enjoyed that,” said Conrad.
The cupcake reference relates to a TV advert in the lead-up to the India vs South Africa Super Eight match where an Indian fan jokingly told a South Africa supporter about “repeating history” from the 2024 T20 World Cup while teasing them over a cupcake. But after South Africa’s resounding win against India in Ahmedabad, that dig flipped on its head.
“No, there’s always pressure and it’s really about embracing that pressure. And we don’t do things any differently. We’re going to prepare exactly the same way for New Zealand. Whether we start as favourites? Probably because we’re the only unbeaten side in the competition. But I don’t know if that adds to the pressure,” continued Conrad.
“I think the semi-final is pressure enough. Playing a tough side in New Zealand is pressure enough. So there’s no added pressure.
“I’m glad that we’re favourites because I always felt that as a South African team you want to be able to play as a favourite because it’s easy being an underdog. The expectation isn’t that much. But if we can continue doing what we’re doing then we need a little bit of luck along the way as well.
“Hopefully that will give us the result on Wednesday and then on to our ‘home ground’ in Ahmedabad,” he finished cheekily.
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