Remember this?
Of course you do. Who doesn’t? How can we ever forget this when every time South Africa fluff a good chance the analysts, professional, amateur and useless alike get up on their armchairs, beat their chest in King King fashion and bellow: CHOKERS!
One has to feel from Graeme Smith and Lonwabo Tsotsobe. They worked hard last night and all they got in return was a pat on the bum. Bums I’d like to pat, but that’s another blog post all together. There are reasons why last night might not be considered a choke.
Google: ‘choke definition’ and you might be a bit shocked if your safe search is turned off. Do it properly and you’ll find the following:
To fail to perform effectively because of nervous agitation or tension, especially in an athletic contest.
Okay. Was there pressure from India? Hardly. In fact, if there was pressure on anyone it was on India. So much tension and pressure that Dhoni decided to bowl Yuvraj and Raina. That’s a sign of desperation. If India were England, Trott and KP would have been bowling.
Instead, I propose we refer to the loss last night as arrogance, complacency and that lack of killer instinct. Again. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve spoken about that. Lopsy did all the hard bowling work, Smith did all the hard batting work and then the rest of the team decide to flop over like a fish out of water. The last partnerships of the lower order read: 8, 3, 14, 11, 1.
What? Yeah
What South African fans should learn from the loss:
1. Never turn off the television until the chase is over.
2. Our mums were right all those years: “they have those runs, we still need to get them.”.
3. Do not Tweet arrogant bile about how badly we are fucking India up before the chase has started. Should you Tweet such bile and supporters from the opposite end come back after a win and abuse you a little. Suck it up. You asked for it.
4. This is not a good sign ahead of the World Cup. Complacency, in my opinion anyway, has been a massive issue for South Africa for a while now. If India aren’t going to shake it out of them in the next three games, we might end up being disappointed at the World Cup. Again.
5. Lopsy is a real gem. He’s brimming with confidence and he could become one of the spearheads of the fast bowling attack.
**Edit: Prompted by the comment below, the biggest reason why I don’t think this loss can be defined as a choke: There wasn’t enough at stake to call this a choke. If it was the the final game of the series with it all poised at one-all then I guess you can call it a choke, but this was just…..stupid.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
They choked because they put the pressure on themselves! DUH, since when were the oppositions responsible for choking?
How can you call crazy headless running and shivering swishes at balls signs of complacency?
They were nervous, they played with hard hands, they choked! Simple as that.
Having said that, the Proteas do get the C word thrown at them quite unfairly most of them. Incompetency of the team goes unrecognized under the garb of choke.
Sorry mate, disagree. I don’t think they choked. There wasn’t enough at stake to call this a choke. If it was the the final game of the series with it all poised at one-all then I guess you can call it a choke, but this was just…..stupid.
“Incompetence of the team” ?
….harsh.
Good one bcnuoe, Pommie seems pleasant and insightful, I noticed his response was in italics lol well done, how bout a Herscelle Gibbs interview next?
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Remember This ?
http://www.espncricinfo.com/stats/engine/match/65971.html
5 to win of last over. Tendulkar (not a regular ODI bowler like Yuvraj) concedes 3 of his only over. The earliest example of a choke that I remember. India rarely ever made the knockout rounds in 1990-95 period. But they won when they did. Since 1996 World cup though India have lost finals/semis far more than winning. Somewhere near SA as ‘C’-ers!
Fortunately for me I’m too young to remember that first joke and the first one I recall is the 99 World Cup. I was devastated for days.
And funny you mention that tid bit about India, somebody mentioned the same on Twitter last night.
i might have to revisit my opinion, after this piece…i did think SA choked big time in this game, but as you said, there was not too much at stake…then again, the lower order collapse against a non threatening medium pace bowler and a couple of part-timers is the closest to a choke they can get..mebbe a choke-let?
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