Kolkata, March 5 South African head coach Shukri Conrad said his team's nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semifinal here was "not a choke, but a crushing defeat."
Chasing a challenging target of 170, New Zealand cruised to victory in 12.5 overs, thanks to their openers on Wednesday night. While Finn Allen's unbeaten 100 off 33 balls was the fastest century in the event's history, Tim Seifert's impressive 58 off 33 balls was equally impactful.
This loss added to South Africa's growing list of disappointments in ICC world tournaments. The 2024 runners-up had entered the semifinal as the only unbeaten team, having won all seven of their matches, including defeating both New Zealand (in the group stage) and the home favourites India (in the Super Eights).
"I don't know if tonight was a choke. I thought it was a complete disaster," Conrad said bluntly, given South Africa's past record of collapsing under pressure.
"For you to choke, you have to have a chance in the game. We didn't have a chance. In South Africa, we'd say we were 'thrashed'," he added, in his characteristic style.
He then used his native Afrikaans to best describe the defeat.
"Tonight, we got a proper 'snotklap' – that's an Afrikaans word for a real beating, something you don't expect. That's what it felt like," said Conrad, who had caused controversy during last year's Test series in India with fiery comments about wanting the Indian team to "grovel."
The literal meaning of the Afrikaans term 'snotklap' is "snot smack," referring to a blow to the face or nose that is so severe that it knocks the "snot" out of the nose.
The New Zealand bowlers set the stage for the match by removing Quinton de Kock (10) and Ryan Rickelton (0) in consecutive deliveries in the second over, after winning a good toss.
Later, Rachin Ravindra and Matt Henry stifled South Africa in the middle overs, as none of their star batters – Aiden Markram (18 off 20 balls), David Miller (6), and Dewald Brevis (34) – could make a significant impact.
Marco Jansen (55 not out; 30 balls) and Tristan Stubbs (29) then lifted their team's total in the final overs.
"We recovered nicely with Stabo and Marco, but I thought New Zealand were excellent. They exploited the conditions really well with their spinners upfront, and we just couldn't get going. So, full marks to them," Conrad conceded.
"They were a lot better than us tonight. We just made some mistakes."
Despite their impressive run in the preliminaries, South Africa crashed out in the semifinal, and Conrad said they "chose a really bad time to have a bad night."
However, he dismissed suggestions that playing most of their previous matches in Ahmedabad had left them under-prepared for a different venue.
"There's obviously a lot to be said about playing all our games in Ahmedabad and then not having played anywhere else. But again, that's no excuse," he said.
"They strangled us upfront, lost wickets, and didn't get any momentum going. And yeah, a lot of things didn't go right tonight. But that was probably because they were so good and they never gave us a chance."
Asked how the team would overcome such a significant defeat after a successful run in the preliminaries, Conrad quipped, "Hopefully, we've got a strong enough team to get us through. Look, I mean, the guys will be disappointed, and they probably are, but it's not the end of the world. You get judged on World Cups and winning them."
Despite the crushing defeat, Conrad took pride in his team's seven-match winning run en route the semifinals.
"I thought we did some exceptional things throughout the tournament. We played some really good cricket. I am incredibly proud of these guys," he said.
"Not many people gave us a chance of making the semifinals when we left home, given our form before the World Cup. But that's no consolation right now," he signed off.
