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Did South Africa choke?

gvenkat

State Captain
There seems to be a storm in the social media and everywhere, If they really choked. Some say they did, Some say they did not. The very definition of choking "is the failure of team to win a game or tournament when the team had been strongly favored to win and squandered a large lead in the late stages of the event".

Although neither happened here, SA missed two run outs which they would have done it 9/10 and a catch that they fluffed. Not to mention their bizarre selection of Philander ahead of Abott.

They did fail in their strongest suite. I personally think they choked under the pressure and failed to grab moments that mattered most. Thoughts...
 

BeeGee

International Captain
Nope. Not even close.

If your definition of choke includes this game then 90% of cricket games involve chokes, which is ridiculous.
 

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
They lost one of the all-time classic World Cup matches to an outstanding team in great form who were marginally better than they were on the day. To even consider calling this a choke is beyond ridiculous.

tl;dr - No FFS
 

smash84

The Tiger King
Nah, they didn't choke this time.

They just got outplayed by a comparable (or perhaps even slightly better) outfit

I can't remember when was the last time I saw opening like Baz yesterday in a world cup knockout. Its bad luck when you play well and still come up against a team that;s going to blow you away
 

Niall

International Coach
Amla choked which when you consider his long list of failures in knock out games in limited overs cricket was to be expected I suppose.

They had chances and just didn't take them, although to be fair it wasn't a perfect NZ performance either, AB rode his luck when batting and yeah less said about Taylor the better..
 

anil1405

International Captain
Both teams batted well
Both teams bowled well in patches
Both teams leaked runs in patches
Both teams made mistakes while fielding

If there was one thing that separated the two teams today it was nerves. And Elliott managed to stay calm and see his team through the finish line.

People calling this a choke are either those who do not appreciate the sport or are just taking the piss.
 

OverratedSanity

Request Your Custom Title Now!
As one of the pre-eminent members in the "SA historically have been chokers at World Cups" club,

No.
Nope. Not even close.

If your definition of choke includes this game then 90% of cricket games involve chokes, which is ridiculous.
They lost one of the all-time classic World Cup matches to an outstanding team in great form who were marginally better than they were on the day. To even consider calling this a choke is beyond ridiculous.

tl;dr - No FFS
Nah, they didn't choke this time.

They just got outplayed by a comparable (or perhaps even slightly better) outfit

I can't remember when was the last time I saw opening like Baz yesterday in a world cup knockout. Its bad luck when you play well and still come up against a team that;s going to blow you away
No. They just werent as tough as NZ. Thats it.
We may have reached a consensus. This thread has nothing more positive to offer tbh. Just end it here.
 

91Jmay

International Coach
No. I think rain cost them more than choking, both sides also made numerous errors (high pressure game, so expected) as well as some excellent cricket.
 

Shri

Mr. Glass
People condescendingly shouting down the mere suggestion is getting on my nerves. At least hear out other opinions ffs. No it was obviously not a choke but you should also be willing to see how others might look at it that way(fielding errors at important points in the game maybe if I were to play the devil's advocate). Correct them rudely before putting them down. Or you look like an idiot with his fingers in his ears and his nose upturned.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
People condescendingly shouting down the mere suggestion is getting on my nerves. At least hear out other opinions ffs. No it was obviously not a choke but you should also be willing to see how others might look at it that way(fielding errors at important points in the game maybe if I were to play the devil's advocate). Correct them rudely before putting them down. Or you look like an idiot with his fingers in his ears and his nose upturned.
This is why people aren't giving it the time of day. The only reason this could be called a choke is because it's SA, nothing that happened is choke-y that doesn't happen to every team on the wrong side of a tight pressure situation.
 

OverratedSanity

Request Your Custom Title Now!
People condescendingly shouting down the mere suggestion is getting on my nerves. At least hear out other opinions ffs. No it was obviously not a choke but you should also be willing to see how others might look at it that way(fielding errors at important points in the game maybe if I were to play the devil's advocate). Correct them rudely before putting them down. Or you look like an idiot with his fingers in his ears and his nose upturned.
Yeah but it obviously wasn't a choke. Which is all everyone's been saying.

Edit: And who was rude? Everyone's been as polite as possible considering how inexplicably sensitive the choke word is
 

Shri

Mr. Glass
This is why people aren't giving it the time of day. The only reason this could be called a choke is because it's SA, nothing that happened is choke-y that doesn't happen to every team on the wrong side of a tight pressure situation.
One error at an important moment is ok but that dropped catch of Elliott, the runout missed by AB, keeper failing to hit the stumps twice when Vettori and Elliott sneaked a bye 2 times etc are valid criticisms now that we have all calmed down. Again, "I" am not saying it was a choke but I wouldn't be so quick to shut people up who might think that way.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
But that happens all the time in pressure situations. It's not like the whole team had a collective brain-fade.
 

anil1405

International Captain
Proteas did not miss any chance in the last over. Elliott was home on both occasions and Vettori being run out in the 4th ball wouldn't have made any difference to Elliott's six the following delivery.

Maybe it just sounds good to add in to the list of chances missed by Proteas to consider it a 'choke' but thats absolute rubbish.
 

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