His workforce did not ‘choke’, head coach Rob Walter insisted, after South Africa crashed out within the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup following a hard-fought defeat to Australia in Kolkata on Thursday.
Needing 213 runs to win their last-four conflict, Australia reached 215/7, securing a three-wicket victory with 16 balls to spare.
Earlier, David Miller led a comeback with a powerful century (101 runs) which helped the South Africans recuperate from an early collapse as they hit again from 24/4 within the early levels of their innings to compile 212 runs all out.
It was not sufficient, nonetheless, and they by no means actually recovered from a poor begin.
“It’s obviously gutting to lose a semi-final, but beyond that, I’m incredibly proud of the fight shown by the lads,” Walter stated.
“The first 12 overs of batting this afternoon was a serious challenge, and ultimately, I think that’s what separated the game.”
No ‘chokers’
Despite the nationwide workforce falling wanting a spot within the trophy contest for the fifth time, Walter insisted the Proteas did not deserve to hold any ‘chokers’ tag after their newest defeat.
“For me, a choke is losing a game that you’re in a position to win. In this instance, we were behind the eight-ball right from the word go and we actually fought our way back into the competition and put up a score that gave us a chance,” he stated.
“And then again (when Australia batted) they got off to a flyer and we fought and we put ourselves back into the game – and of course we were 30 runs or 40 runs short… but for me there’s nothing even remotely close to a choke that happened out there today. It was a serious contest between two good teams.”
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