Imagine the irony if rain prevents the Cricket World Cup semifinal between the Proteas and Australia being played.
Rain is being forecast for both the match day, Thursday, as well as the reserve day on Friday, and if no play is possible, South Africa would advance to Sunday’s final.
Howzat? Will it be to our advantage at last?
South Africa’s cricketers have contested four semifinals before this — in 1992, 1999, 2007 and 2015 — and they’ve never advanced to a final.
In 1992 they lost out to England in macabre fashion after rain saw their required run chase changing from 22 off 14 balls to finally 22 from one delivery.
And in 1999 South Africa tied their semifinal against Australia and were eliminated because Australia had finished higher in the Super Six phase.
Okay, in 2007 we were well and truly outplayed by Australia, who went on to win their third straight crown, so there are no complaints there.
But rain played a role again in 2015, this time against New Zealand, reducing the number of overs to 43 a side. Perhaps the result would have been different had it gone the full 50?
What odds would one have got in January of 1992 that rain would hit two out of South Africa’s first four CWC semifinals? And three of the first five? I imagine one might have been able to retire with a relatively modest outlay.
Sixty percent is a gobsmacking statistic, I must point out. Are we supposed to blame cricket, global warming or sheer bad luck?
Anyway, at first glance I thought that rain and the possibility of a walkover victory might be wonderful news for the Proteas, but then I started suffering dark thoughts about how this could go wrong for us (please excuse my negativity, but I am still recovering from Edgbaston).
In a worst-case scenario, a minimum of 20 overs must be faced by each side for the result to be decided by action in the middle, even if it does resemble a T20.
Admittedly, that would be a bum way for either side to lose (or win) on Thursday.
Equally, if Australia were to be eliminated because no play were possible would also be unfair.
And that could also bite us in the rear end too. It might be a disadvantage going into the final without the confidence of a semifinal victory under the belt — especially in South Africa’s case.
In that scenario the Proteas will still not have physically won a CWC semifinal and this is a monkey they seriously need to get off their backs.
It wouldn’t matter if they ended up facing India or New Zealand in Ahmedabad.
A walkover win would leave the players in unprecedented territory, psychologically, as they try to prepare for a final where the opponents will be brimming with confidence.
If it’s India, the hosts will know they dismantled us previously and they can do it again.
And if it’s New Zealand they’ll be on cloud nine having just beaten undefeated India. Their loss to South Africa, even by a seemingly wide 190 runs, will be a distant memory.
The Proteas will have to work hard to try to eliminate the mental gaps created by a walkover.
And it could get even worse. What happens if just 18 overs of the South Africa versus Australia semifinal are played, in which the Proteas are reeling when the rain comes — batting first they’re on 29/8 or bowling the Aussies are 152 without loss.
Either way South Africa advances because the match is not completed, but the damage to be repaired before the final could be even greater than the uncertainty that could come without a ball being bowled.
I hope I’m worrying unnecessarily, and maybe reserving the nerves for Sunday will be beneficial, but I suspect not.
I think the Proteas’ best chance of winning the tournament could come through being tested on Thursday.
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