Worst choke ever

[BoyBrumby]

Sri Lanka choked pretty hard in the the first test last summer. 15 wickets had fallen in 273 overs spread over 5 rain-affected days and they had about 50 overs to negotiate and only 96 runs to make to knock off the deficit with England's spearhead injured and unable to bowl.

Blown away in under 25 overs for 82.

[ganeshran]

India in WC 03 final worth a shout?It wasn't a choke from a winning position per se, but it was a choke in every other sense of the word. The occasion seemed to get to each and every one of their players, nothing exlempifying it better than Sourav's absolute brainfade at the toss; where he sent a great ODI side in to bat on a flat pitch, in a high pressure game. Zaheer, magnificent all tournament till that point, bowled the most horrible first over you'll ever see. Every thing went downhill for the Indians from thereon

Nah, that was a disappointing performance but Australia were clearly the better side and a one side game wasnt entirely unexpected, even though not the way it eventually folded out. Still wont call it a choke though.

[Sparkley]

Nah, that was a disappointing performance but Australia were clearly the better side and a one side game wasnt entirely unexpected, even though not the way it eventually folded out. Still wont call it a choke though.

Perhaps you are right. Leaving aside the fact that India were comprehensively outplayed, wouldn't you agree it was more than a little bizzare that they all seemed to collectively lose the plot so spectacularly? It wasn't merely a case of a better team winning if you ask me, which that Australian side undoubtedly was. Every team that loses, be it from a winning position or by a big margin, can be said to have been outplayed. You lose, you're outplayed, simples. Say a team is chasing 200 to win and they go on to lose from 190/1; wouldn't you say they were outplayed, too? Sure they choked in that they should have won from the position they were in; but they were also outplayed because the other team did not play well enough to spark such a collapse. Basically what I'm saying is, the classification of whether a loss was down to a team choking or it being outplayed is purely arbitrary. In many cases, if not most, they're one and the same.

Zaheer's first over was utter bollocks and purely down to nerves, I'd say. It wasn't just him, the rest of the side was just as bad. Compare and contrast that to how the same blokes performed in the final last year and you'll definitely see a difference.

As aforesaid I'm not sure if this can be termed a 'choke'. In my dictionary completely losing your heads in a WC final is the equivalent of choking.

[Agent Nationaux]

Definitely the Australia v South Africa semi Final in 99. Watched the end, and was supporting Klusener all the way (he used to be one of my favourite players) and couldn't believe that Donald ****ed it up and denied Pakistan the WC.

[Sparkley]

South Africa were Pakistan's nemesis at that time. Australia were a relatively easy opponent for them and Pakistan would of fancied their chances in the final, having already beaten them in the group stages.

[Agent Nationaux]

And South Africa never perform in a major tournament. Ironic that you posted that on a thread about choking.

[Sparkley]

This whole thing started with that 99 semi final against Australia, though. You can't possibly have known that they'd choke before it actually happened. For that matter, I believe the c word is thrown around too liberally when it comes to RSA. Every time they lose it's ostensibly down to them choking! No denying they've performed worse than they should have in ICC tournaments, but why they are singled out for criticism every single time is beyond me. Of the major sides, England and New Zealand also haven't won a WC; and they've been playing all WC's since 75 unlike RSA who started in 92. All this tosh about them not having won an ICC tournament is incorrect as well. If my fickle memory serves me correct they were the first to win the ICC Champions trophy, which I believe was then called ICC knockout trophy or some such thing.

Winning a WC is considered to be the pinnacle of sport but it isn't always down to skill or the team choking or not choking. You do need a little bit of luck as well; be it India catching the mighty West Indies on an off day in 83, Pakistan sneaking through with a crucial point because of rain after getting bowled out for 72, SL getting points for other teams not playing them in 96...the list goes on.

All that doesn't really count of course. It's the results that matter. I'm confident RSA will turn it around win the near future.

[Spark]

Hmm, I think there are instances of them making basic ****ups in strong situations before.

IIRC they have never won a WC knockout match.

Ever.

[Sparkley]

I suppose you only mean WC's because they can't have won the ICC knockout cup without winning a knockout match, but yes, not winning a WC knockout match should be held against them. I don't see why it's inherently better to lose in the final like England have done on multiple occasions but that's a different debate. With the talent at RSA's disposal they should have had a WC by now, bare minimum. I was just making the point that the c word is thrown around too freely when it comes to them. Even if they lose a normal match people claim they choked.

[Satguru]

Oh please, South Africa have been regularly choking in big games since their readmission. 1993 Hero Cup semi final against India comes to mind as one of the earliest example. And shockingly, every single one of their worlc cup exits can arguably be considered a choke, apart from 1992.

[Jono]

Of the major sides, England and New Zealand also haven't won a WC

In the last 15 years they haven't had a ODI side as strong as South Africa's.

[Sparkley]

In the last 15 years they haven't had a ODI side as strong as South Africa's.

I wouldn't dispute that but New Zealand have made so many semi-finals and lost so it isn't like they've been rubbish.Same goes for England if you don't just look at the last 15 years. What is it, 3 WC finals without a win or something similar.

[Jono]

Yeah but who wants to talk about England ODIs from the 1980s?

Are you honestly going to say that SA didn't choke vs. NZ (and NZ capitalised brilliantly when they realised they were feeling the pressure) in this year's World Cup quarter-final?

[Sparkley]

I'd agree that pressure played a great part in RSA losing that match. I'm not trying to suggest that RSA have never crumbled under pressure, or that they've never choked. I believe it's vastly overstated when it comes to RSA. One of the blokes who's posted above is seriously selling Sachin's last over short. That was one of the better overs you'd see from a part time bowler. Funny how people bring up that match at the first mention of RSA and big matches but choose to overlook chasing 438 in a decider against the then number 1 ODI side, winning a decider ODI against Pakistan after the match was virtually lost and of course the ICC Champions Trophy.

[benchmark00]

Have heard that Jono chokes his girlfriend ftr.