More expected as Proteas lift jinx

23 March 2015 - 09:16 By Daily Telegraph
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BRAIN MELT: Proteas batsmen Lance Klusener, right, and Allan Donald meet at one end before the latter is run out in the World Cup semifinal against Australia at Edgbaston on June 17 1999 with the scores tied.
BRAIN MELT: Proteas batsmen Lance Klusener, right, and Allan Donald meet at one end before the latter is run out in the World Cup semifinal against Australia at Edgbaston on June 17 1999 with the scores tied.
Image: REUTERS

On Wednesday, one of the great sporting jinxes was lifted - a drought that ranks up there with English football's half-century of hurt; a condition we might refer to as "the Klusener Complex".

Until Wednesday, this USP (unique shaming point) was the Proteas' failure to win a World Cup knockout match - ever.

Admittedly, they missed the first four instalments because of isolation. Even now, though, the best they have managed was the unforgettable tied semifinal at Edgbaston in 1999 - still surely the greatest one-day international played - in which Lance Klusener needed one run to win off four balls, and could not get it.

South Africa's choke in 1999 has gone down in history, but this is not the only hard-luck story on the register. England fans still chortle about the appalling injustice of 1992, when a sudden downpour in the Sydney semifinal led to a hare-brained recalculation after which 22 runs from 12 balls became 22 runs from one ball.

And even once the Duckworth-Lewis method had been introduced, SA managed to create their own mathematical mayhem while hosting the tournament in 2003.

As rain swept in once again, Mark Boucher misunderstood the "target score", and patted the final ball away for a dot when a single was needed. Another tie, another exit; midsummer madness indeed.

Klusener's mind-melt remains the gold standard, however; the ultimate embodiment of South Africa's knack for punching below their weight.

And when Damien Fleming sent down a perfect yorker , Klusener bottom-edged it to mid-off and hared down the pitch in search of the winning run.

Unfortunately, last man Allan Donald was facing the wrong way and did not hear Klusener's call.

On Wednesday the omens were bleak when Sri Lanka won the toss and batted. Every one of South Africa's previous World Cup exits had come on a run chase.

Their bowlers, notably legspinner Imran Tahir, performed so well that Sri Lanka could muster only 133 all out. So there was no pressure on the batsmen as they romped to a nine-wicket win.

As they take on New Zealand tomorrow, there is a sense SA could be on the verge of a breakthrough.

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