Proteas can't cut the chase

The debacle against Pakistan in Auckland was the latest example of a worrying truth: SA have lost the art of chasing down targets.

Their 2011 World Cup ended in shambolic fashion in the quarter-final in Dhaka when they failed to reel in New Zealand's mediocre 221. That soft-serve performance echoed around Eden Park on Saturday, when they were dismissed 29 runs short of the 232 they needed to beat Pakistan.

SA's sorry performance snared the attention of Graeme Smith, who wrote in his column on the International Cricket Council website: "One of the most glaring issues to come out of [the] loss was the continued struggle that the Proteas have with regard to chasing. The only lesson that came from this batting rehearsal was that [SA] have a lot more work to do in very little time ."

And that by a team who in the space of five days at this tournament became the first side to post consecutive totals of at least 400 in one-day internationals.

SA have been victorious in all three matches in which they have batted first at the World Cup, but lost both times they have been asked to hunt down a target. Those results are part of a trend.

Overall, SA have won 167 ODIs batting first and 162 when they have fielded first. In fact, until the end of their involvement in the 2011 Cup, they were a more successful team when they chased, earning 147 wins compared with 140 when they set the target.

But it has proved a slippery spiral since then. Twenty-seven of SA's victories have been achieved when they have batted first and only 15 the other way around.

And to think AB de Villiers chose to chase when he won the toss on Saturday. He did so no doubt on the strength of the fact that seven of the previous 10 ODIs at Eden Park had been won by the team batting second.

Indeed, SA celebrated one of those successes themselves when they scored 208-5 to beat New Zealand in March, 2012.

However, that is a rarity whose ghost may yet come back to haunt SA at this World Cup.