Kit Harris looks back on five decades of World Cup failures.
The men’s World Cup in India has already produced its fair share of inevitabilities and surprises. The hosts are through to the semi-finals, and look invincible. Afghanistan and Netherlands have converted years of promise into genuine achievement. But one crucial element of any global cricket event is also present: South Africa are through to the knockouts, and we will soon be able to talk about choking.
It’s strange, in a way. The familiar plot – acing the group stage, only to come a cropper in the knockouts – is as old as the bracket itself, and certainly predates South Africa’s participation. Indeed, the reputation for failure-when-it-matters was once England’s:in the first five men’s tournaments, they swept grandly through the round robins, only to crash out on the home straight. Having gone unbeaten in 1975, they were bowled out for 93 in the semi-final against Australia; four years later, they reached the final, and were 183 for two, chasing West Indies’ 286 (and the clock) before they lost eight for 11.They topped their group in 1983, but were bundled out for 213 in the semi by India, the eventual champions.In the 1987 final, they were 170 for three, needing 254, but fell short by eight; they muffed their chase in 1992 as well. But nobody used the c-word, however often England gasped and spluttered.
South Africa’s famous maiden choke, in their first World Cup appearance, wasn’t really a choke at all.Needing 22 off 13 to beat England in the 1992 semi-final, they were interrupted by a brief shower, which knocked two overs off the equation. They were left requiring 21 from one ball. That was the end of that rain rule,though it’s worth observing that, under the Duckworth–Lewis rule which replaced it,South Africa would have lost by an even greater margin: they had bowled their overs so slowly, the England innings was ended five overs early, but South Africa’s target remained the same (these days, it would be increased).
Their notoriety took another decade to be established, whenthey slipped up in the 1996 quarter-final: needing 265, they had reached 186 for three before the West Indies’ part-time spinners, Jimmy Adams, Roger Harper and Keith Arthurton, reduced them to 228 for nine.Then came the new Knockout Trophy. South Africa won the first edition, in 1998, and made it to the semi in 2000; these were the only two global competitions in which every game was all-or-nothing, and the South Africans had taken to them with panache.
Two colossal World Cup banana skins nipped hope in the bud. South Africa didn’t even lose – they tied both – but their exits in 1999 and 2003 seared the chokers tag like a tattoo. Edgbaston was their Trafalgar: against Australia, in the semi-final, they were nine down, with nine to get, before Lance Klusener hit consecutive boundaries at the start of the final over – but one run from four proved impossible. Durban, in 2003, was their Waterloo: to reach the Super Six, they had to beat Sri Lanka in the last group game. By the 45th over of their chase, rain was falling, but Mark Boucher had a list of Duckworth–Lewis scores, precisely for such an eventuality. He knew they were six short and, with a flourish, smashed the fifth ball of Muttiah Muralitharan’s over beyond the rope, then defended the next. The rain grew heavier, off came the teams – and out of the tournament crashed South Africa. Boucher’s crib sheet showed the par score, not the target.
The hapless South Africans have been coughing ever since: global semis in 2007, 2009 and 2015 (having, at long last, broken their duck with a win in a quarter-final) proved their undoing. They have played 17 knockout games in ICC tournaments, and lost 12: a failure rate of 71%.
Only New Zealand, at 64%, come close. They have largely dodged accusations ofbottling, possibly because, having underachieved for so long, they now seem to be edging closer to a world title.They reached the finals of the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, and the 2021 T20 World Cup, and their failure – so far – to go all the way has seen them tagged as nearly-men, rather than chokers.
Pakistan have lost 59% of their knockout games, but have few bona fide chokes to regret.In the 1979 World Cup semi-final, they were 176 for one, chasing 294 to beat West Indies, but lost nine for 74.They reached the 2021 T20 semi-final unbeaten, and reduced Australia to 96 for five in pursuit of 177, only to be torn apart by Matthew Wade.
England and Sri Lanka have won about as many as they’ve lost. In the 1990s, England had no problem in falling at a late hurdle – since they never got that far. But this century, though they have improved, they have shown they are still capable of a spectacular meltdown – especially when facing West Indies.England had them 147 for eight, chasing 218, in the 2004 Champions Trophy final, but could not dislodge Courtney Browne or Ian Bradshaw, who added an unbeaten 71 for the ninth wicket.Then, in the 2016 T20 final, Stokes bowled to Brathwaite, with 19 needed from the last over; Brathwaite walloped four sixes.Sri Lanka’s most abject failure came at home, in the 2012 T20 final at Colombo. Unbeaten up to that point, save for a seven-over thrash against South Africa, they wanted only 138 to beat West Indies – but from 48 for one, they lost nine for 53.
The three big beasts of the knockout stage are India, West Indies and Australia, who have won many more such games than their rivals– roughly two victories for every loss. Australia and India have both managed the feat of winning all their T20 World Cup games, then faltering in the last: Australia in 2010 (they slipped to eight for three against England, and never fully recovered), and India in 2014(when Kumar Sangakkara and Tissara Perera engineered a Sri Lankan comeback). The Indians slipped up in the 2019 World Cup too, topping the group, then restricting New Zealand to 239 in the semi, only to fall short. But their most notorious choke was at Kolkata, in the 1996 semi-final. Chasing 252 to beat Sri Lanka, they reached 98 for one, then lost seven for 22 before the furious crowd set fire to the stands, forcing match referee Clive Lloyd to award the game to Sri Lanka.
The Indians still derive succour, though, from the manner of their World Cup win in 1983. West Indian chokes have been as rare as hens’ teeth, but they certainly suffocated at Lord’s: from 50 for one, needing 184, they lost nine for 90. The world order has certainly shifted. West Indies, who have lost only eight knockout games – the fewest of any team who have played more than a couple – are not even at the current tournament. India, on theother hand, are breathing more freely than ever. Choke? They haven’t even hiccupped. Yet.
Kit Harris is Assistant Editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
Wisden: The blog 