CWC15 - Battle Of Big Game Chokers - NZ vs SA

#NewZealand vs #SouthAfrica
#Auckland
24th Mar 2015

Who will blink first? or who will choke?

The proverbial choker tag has been associated with South Africans for over two decades now.

Their tale of misfortune started with the (ironically) 1992 world cup semi final at #SCG (fortunately they are not playing there this time around .. that should be a relief!) when the idiotic rain rule robbed them a chance to advance to the finals (Remember the 22 runs of 1 ball scenario?). That was unfortunate and no fault of theirs. What followed after that has been inexplicable till date.

1996 - Starting as clear favorites to lift the title, they triumphed in all their league games before running into a rampant Brian Lara and West Indies in the quarterfinals. Chasing a moderate 264, they collapsed to 219 all out crashing out of the cup.

1999 - Once again, started as clear favorites to lift the trophy. What happened in the semi finals at Birmingham against Australia is part of cricketing legend. 1 run to win in 4 balls and Kluesener-Donald mixup botched their run chase and place in the world cup finals

2003 - At home and once again top contenders to win, they messed it up against Sri Lanka in their last group game. In a rain interrupted match, they needed one run to stay ahead of SL on the Duckworth Lewis method. What happened? They read the D/L scores incorrectly and played out the decisive delivery without scoring a run! Result? SA out, SL moved to super six stage

2007 - No choking here. They were strangled by Australia in the semis through a Matthew Hayden century and folded meekly.

2011 - Choking revisited. From a strong position chasing NZ score, they capitulated once again to lose the game.

What about New Zealand?
They are no less chokers. 
They have reached the World Cup semifinals on 6 ocassions losing each of them.
1975 lost to WI
1979 lost to Eng
1992 lost to Pak
1999 lost to Pak
2007 lost to SL
2011 lost to SL

This is going to be one hell of a contest considering their history at the World Cups.
One team will erase those past demons. Which one will that be? 
Will McCullum win at home? or AB Devilliers bring glory to SA cricket?  
Match begins in a short while..

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CWC 2015 - India v South Africa At The MCG on 22nd Feb 2015

‪#‎Ind‬ v ‪#‎Pak‬ done and dusted, India now take on ‪#‎SouthAfrica‬ in another scorcher of a league match on 22nd Feb 2015. 

Another #SuperSunday in the offing for #cricket fans! ‪#‎CWC2015‬ ‪#‎India‬ v ‪#‎SA‬ (‪#‎Proteas‬) at the ‪#‎MCG‬

India are down 0-3 in head to head ties against #SA in ‪#‎CWC‬ tournaments.

Is this their ‪#‎Mauka‬ to set the equation straight?

1992 - lost by 8 wickets
1999 - lost by 4 wickets
2011 - lost by 2 wickets

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Will South Africa Bury Ghosts Of Previous Cricket World Cups in 2015?

Will #SA break the #CricketWorldCup jinx this time?

The eternal "chokers" of cricket enter yet another world cup carrying ghosts of previous editions. The dreadful #Rainrule in 1992, the #Lara magnum opus in 1996, the ultimate #KluesnerChoke in the greatest one dayer of all time in 1999, the silly miscalculation against  #SriLanka in 2003, complete annihilation by #Australia in 2007 and the #NewZeland choke of 2011.

What are their chances this time around then?

Almost every world cup has thrown a situation that has pushed them out of the cup. Ironically, on most occasions they are the team to beat. Wessels' team in 1992 was their re-entry into world cup after the apartheid era but they did tremendously well to reach the semis only to be cruelly thrown out due to the ridiculous rain rule that was being applied to rain curtailed games. The #DuckworthLewis rule came in later to even out a contest.

In 1996 and 1999, under #HansieCronje, they were arguably the best side to win both tournaments on form and man-to-man strengths. Bowling, Batting, Fielding, All round ability .. they had it all. And some of the best names at that. However in 1996, they ran into a rampaging #BrianLara in the quarterfinal to be blown under his assault. In 1999, the greatest one day match of all time (a tied semi final against Australia) saw them bow out on account of losing to the Aussies in the group stage. An eternal #choke (that went on to become a sobriquet associated with them for years to come).

In 2003, under #GraemeSmith and being hosts, was another golden opportunity. And what did they do? Fluff up a Duckworth-Lewis calculation and failed to take an extra run that would see them in the next round. Instead Sri Lanka went through. What a mega blunder!

2007 World Cup was dominated by Australia throughout and they blew away everyone along the way including SA in the semifinals. Fair and square. No bad luck involved here.

Come 2011, and again tragedy struck in the quarterfinals against New Zealand. From what seemed like a easy win, they wasted another opportunity...

Any luck this time around?

Well, they seem a bit inexperienced and a lot of fresh faces.
However their key strength is their bowling, especially #DaleSteyn and #MorneMorkel. They will hold key on the fast Australian pitches and seams NZ tracks.

Batting is in safe hands of #ABDevilliers, #HashimAmla and #FafDuPlessis.

Solid all round strength and fielding is extra-ordinary right from the #JontyRhodes era.

With SA its all going to be about self belief.
Can they conquer their mental demons this time around?

SA Team for Cricket World Cup 2015
A B Devilliers
Hashim Amla
Kyle Abbott
Farhan Behardien
Quinton De Kock
Jean Paul Duminy
Faf Du Plessis
Imran Tahir
David Miller
Morne Morkel
Wayne Parnell
Aaron Phangiso
Vernon Philander
Rilee Rossauw
Dale Steyn