Don't say the C-word: South Africa's five worst World Cup heartbreaks

Rain rule drama (1992 World Cup)

In 1992, South Africa took on England in the second semifinal of the World Cup. Bowling first in a rain-shortened encounter, the Proteas ended up conceding a fairly challenging 252-6 in 45 overs, as Graeme Hick made his way to 83 off 90 balls.

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In reply, South Africa did well to keep pace with their required run rate and thanks to Jonty Rhodes' aggressive 43 off 38 balls needed 22 runs off the last 13 balls to win. However, play was interrupted due to rain at that point, and when the players came back on 12 minutes later, the number of overs had been reduced from 45 to 43. However, under the old rain rule, South Africa's target had only been revised from 253 to 252, meaning that after just a short interruption they had gone from needing 22 off 13 balls to 21 off 1 ball.

Of course, they could not get there and the significance of the match prompted a rethink of the rain rule. The Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method began to be used soon after.  

The tie at Edgbaston (1999 World Cup)

In 1999, South Africa once again made the final four of the World Cup where they came against the previous edition's finalists, Australia. Bowling first at Edgbaston, they did exceedingly well to skittle Australia for 213, as Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald took 9-68 between them.

But Australia were not going down without a fight. South Africa were reduced to 61-4 before Jonty Rhodes and Jacques Kallis led a recovery. After they were dismissed, Lance Klusener, enjoying a dream run in that tournament, whacked 23 off 12 balls to keep the Proteas alive and take the chase down to 9 runs off 6 balls, with one wicket in hand.

Klusener hit the first two balls of the over for four through the offside, levelling the scores. Off the third ball, last man Allan Donald was nearly run out, backing up too far only to be sent back. Disaster struck just afterwards, as Klusener hit the ball down the ground and called Donald through for a single. The non-striker was slow to respond, before dropping his bat and being run out by a mile.

The match was tied (the first in World Cup history), and Australia made it to the final on the basis of their superior net run rate in the Super Six stage.

Duckworth-Lewis 'brain fade' (2003 World Cup)

In their final first round match of the 2003 World Cup, South Africa took on Sri Lanka in Durban. Sri Lanka scored an imposing 268-9 batting first, thanks to Marvan Atapattu (124) and Aravinda de Silva (73).

At the end of the 44th over of South Africa's chase, they were 216-6, needing 53 off the last 6 overs. With the rain already starting to fall, both sides knew they were largely playing for the Duckworth-Lewis par scores, on an almost over-by-over basis. It had been communicated to South Africa's Mark Boucher that the par score at the end of over number 45 was 229-6. After two singles and five wides, Boucher lifted Muthiah Muralidaran over midwicket for six, taking the score to 229. The last ball of the over was tucked into the leg side by Boucher, and the batters did not run as they believed they had done enough to win the game.

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But as they came off the pitch, it emerged that the par score of 229 was not to win the match for South Africa, only to tie it. As a result, with no more play possible, the match ended in a tie resulting in Sri Lanka's qualification for the Super Sixes, and South Africa's exit from the competition. A single off that last delivery would have put them through.  

Grant Elliott's masterclass (2015 World Cup)

In 2015, South Africa were involved in yet another rain-shortened match, in the semifinal of the World Cup. This time, they batted first and courtesy of Faf du Plessis (82), AB de Villiers (65*) and David Miller (49), scored a potentially match-winning 281-5 in 43 overs against New Zealand in Auckland.

Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum then put the Proteas to the sword, smashing 59 off 26 balls at the top of the order. Despite that, South Africa were still well in the game after Corey Anderson was dismissed with five overs to go, leaving New Zealand with 46 to get with five wickets in hand. Dale Steyn then removed Luke Ronchi in the 41st over, and the World Cup hosts finally needed 12 off the last 6 balls.

After a couple of singles, Daniel Vettori managed to squeeze away a boundary before Grant Elliott, batting on 78, took the strike back by running a bye. With the equation reading five needed off two balls and a tie enough for New Zealand to qualify, the South African-born Elliott pounced on a length ball from Steyn, sending it into the stands to spark wild celebrations — and more painful memories for the South Africans. 

First final, next heartbreak (2024 T20 World Cup)

In 2024, South Africa made it to their first-ever senior men's World Cup final (in any format). Coming into the summit clash against India, both teams were unbeaten in the tournament. South Africa reduced India to 34-3 before Virat Kohli (76) and Axar Patel (47) led a recovery effort, helping the Men in Blue to 176-7 in Barbados.

In reply, South Africa were behind the eight ball until Heinrich Klaasen got a hold of Axar Patel, smashing him for 24 runs in the 15th over to bring the equation down to 30 off 30 balls, with six wickets in hand. After a four-run over from Jasprit Bumrah, Klaasen nicked Hardik Pandya through to the keeper and Bumrah himself struck to remove Marco Jansen in the following over. South African fans watched in horror as their team failed to hit a boundary for four overs, taking the equation from 30 off 30 to 16 off 6.

David Miller was then caught brilliantly on the boundary by Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya conceded just eight runs in the final over to secure a stunning come-from-behind victory for India. Once again, South Africa ended up with nothing from a promising position.

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