South Africa choke, What a joke

south-africas-graeme-smith- Yet another semifinal, yet another defeat. Amit Panhale analyses South Africa's semifinal loss to Pakistan.

They were expected to choke. And probably they did. But choke they didn’t as much as they were overwhelmed by one man, who has more often than not disappointed but on the big stage today he chose to unleash.

On a wicket that had produced low scoring thrillers so far, Pakistan’s coach Intikhab Alam had on the eve of the match expressed the desire to get 150. And batting first Pakistan achieved the goal with eerie precision. Sent up the order, Afridi came to crease as early as the third over. And from ball one he made his intentions clear. Many times before he has failed to succeed in his intentions but with guile and brute Afridi dismantled the South African spinners. Johan Botha who had been sensational in the series so far, was clueless as Afridi dispatched him thrice over covers and once behind point. All in the space of four deliveries. Kallis has been very successful with the bat recently but with the ball he has been expensive. In IPL too he had been hit for runs and on the slow Trent Bridge wicket his pace was like a pastry with a cherry on top. Afridi blew him away with shots over midwicket and a flying kiss. The difference in Afridi’s success yesterday and his failures earlier was that when the situation demanded caution, he nudged the ball around. Not every ball had one address written over it and he understood that very early.

The belligerence of Afridi then cost him his wicket and South Africa then pulled it back by bowling tight and right. Over 11 to 15 had cost them 52 runs and five after that only 29. The Proteas had been brilliant in the field until this match. Yesterday they looked out of sorts. Letting balls go between their legs and tripping over thin air. Pakistan’s batting was largely a one man show with good times lasting between overs 3 to 15.

South Africa had been brilliant with the bat so far but only once had they batted second in the series. In such formidable form were their top order batsmen that the middle and lower middle order had never been tested. If they lost wickets early against Pakistan it was the batsmen at five, six and seven who would have to negotiate Afridi and Gul. It was that little battle in the war that South Africa in the end lost.

Having begun positively, Afridi and Aamer applied brakes on the progress of South Africa with three wickets between them in four overs. Watching from the other end Gibbs had seen Afridi turn the ball. But while facing him, Gibbs forgot that he could turn in the other way too. Foxed by googly Gibbs departed and Afridi celebrated in his trademark style.

The innings inspite of Kallis’ measured effort never gained momentum again, though hope surged when overs 13 and 14 bought in 25 runs. Only Younis can explain why Fawad was introduced when there were other bowlers who could do a better job. The mistake though, he quickly corrected and the Fawad experiment he subsequently terminated. Umar Gul loves the blockhole. His first over may have yielded 10 but in his later overs he was spot on. Pitching the bowl consistently under the bat, Umar Gul gave the batsman no room to hit convincing shots. The wicket of Kallis was the final nail in the coffin though Duminy did manage to score a few runs in the end which only helped reduce the margin but not avert the defeat.

South Africa knows that their team is probably the best in the world and yesterday it was not Pakistan but Afridi that defeated them. But it is a reason history books will not mention, for many years later only the empty trophy cabinet will be the talking point.