Adelaide: South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said that it is difficult to accept the T20 World Cup exit as his team was again out of another ICC tournament after losing to a weak Netherlands on Sunday. South Africa were knocked out of the group stage of the tournament after being beaten by the Netherlands by 13 runs in the Super 12 match. South Africa’s team, despite performing well in ICC tournaments, loses in the end, hence it is called ‘chokers’.
A disappointed Bavuma said after the match, “It’s hard to digest. As a united unit, we were confident of reaching the playoffs.” South Africa, which has a strong pace attack, needed to beat a weak Netherlands to reach the semi-finals. But this shocking defeat turned the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh into a ‘do or die’ match that will decide the second team to advance to the semi-finals of Group 2.
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The loss to South Africa had ensured India a place in the last four even before the result of the match against Zimbabwe. Bavuma said, “Unfortunately we could not win. It was not ideal to bowl after winning the toss. We lost wickets at crucial times. He made good use of the ground which we could not do.” South Africa are always one of the top contenders before the tournament but are eliminated at the end of the ICC tournament and the team is yet to reach the final of the World Cup.
The team was eliminated in the semi-final stage in the T20 World Cup twice in 2009 and 2014. In the ODI World Cup, she lost in the last four on four occasions in 1992, 1999, 2007 and 2015. Netherlands captain Scott Edwards had no words to describe the joy after registering the first win over South Africa in any format. “There is a lot to be said, but it will take some time to tell it. Another big upset win for the Netherlands in the World Cup. This was the Netherlands’ second win in the Super 12 stage, having beaten Zimbabwe by five wickets. (agency)