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The match would have finished much earlier had Kallis and Co. not allowed Mark Waugh to bowl a lot of overs in the middle.
Chasing a target is a lot about identifying threats and weak links in the opposition and then treading with caution against potential threats while going after the weak links. Playing in safe mode can take you only so far; you must change gears at some point.
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With that I completly disagree with. Did he forget that Warne bowled Gibbs, then removed Kirsten and Cronje two balls later? 3 wickets in eight balls. Then he went on to bowl 40 more balls. Where Cullinan was the one batsman which was useless against Warne due to Warne's flight which was perfect above Cullinans plane of view and subsequently lost the ball 99 percent of the time he bowled to him.
Cullinan was run out for 6 in the 22nd over leaving us 64-4. Jacques Kallis role in the SA team were the anchor. People thought he was selfish batting for records but he simply played the way he was intructed to play. Play the anchor let everyone bat arouind him.
Rhodes and Kallis brought the score up to 145 using 18 overs. As yopu can see
here
How nicely Rhodes and Kallis accelerated taking the run rate from 1.4 to 5 over keeping the run rate below 8. Waugh started the 25th over and ended the 40th over which was part of the period SA managed to stabilize and build a partnership keeping the run rate in check. Then Australia's 2nd best bowler on the day Paul Reiffel took the wicket of Rhodes and Shane Warne came back which was receiving lots of assistance from the pitch removed Kallis. Australia's 2 best bowlers on the day removing two set batsman. Shaun Pollock clubbed Warne for 6 and were bowled by Fleming for 20. This was in the 46 over where the require run rate was 7.5. Then SA lost Boucher and Elworthy in space of 2 balls with Alan Donald who was a complete mug with the ball.
198/9 with 8 balls remaining needing 214. Klusener could only run a 2 or smashed it for a boudary. The very next ball should have been game over but Rifle gave us a life line by dropping Klusener where the ball went for a 6. Strange no one ever mentions that incident which should have been the end of the match on 198. Yet we got to 213 thanks to that Rifle gift.
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South Africa have done this more times than any other team
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With this. I can say this team have done it more but yet he failed to back up his point. In fact he only referenced one game.
The word chokers were banter and sledging which the Australians started to use and brand the SA team in the Tri series between SA, Aus and NZ and that was way before 99. Reason they called SA chokers was because we went to Australia played them on their home ground on their wickets, reach the final win the first game then lose the next 2. That is when they branded us chokers. But hell we were really not suppose or expected to take it to a 3rd game really.
But we got them back with the help of NZ and broke their streak of reaching the final when we won the final against NZ 2 -0
Manage to beat them at home in a test series and was the first side to do it in 16 years.
We beat England earlier this year and had no problem in eating up the pressure and finished them off. Game vs NZ was a total batting collapse in the WC and NZ were clever by provoking us with the sledging where we lost our heads and threw the game away which was the only real choke