South African coach reacts after team's yet another WC semifinal loss

South Africa lost yet another World Cup semifinal. The African side has been known infamously for their choking on the big stage in the big tournaments. It has been one such tournament where they dominated the group stage for the most part with their entertaining cricket and went on to lose in the semifinal. It has been a trend since their readmission to cricket in 1992. 

In 1992, South Africa was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinal due to the most overs lost rule, as rain affected the match. In 1996, South Africa was knocked out in the quarterfinal stage. In 1999, South Africa tied the match against Australia and did not enter the final, as Australia had beaten them in the Super 6 stage. In 2003, South Africa could not make it to the Knockout as they could not overcome Sri Lanka in a rain-affected game. 

In 2007, South Africa was eliminated by Australia in the semifinal. In 2011, New Zealand knocked them out of the tournament from the quarterfinals. In 2015, South Africa came so close and lost to New Zealand in the semifinal. In 2019, South Africa could not even qualify for the semifinal. Now in 2023, South Africa was knocked out of the tournament by Australia in the semifinal. 

'There's nothing even remotely close to a choke that happened out there' - Rob Walter

Speaking about the same in the post-match interview, the South African coach said that it was not a choke from the team. "In this instance, we were behind right from the word go, and we fought our way back into the competition and put up a score that gave us a chance. And then, again, they (Australia) got us to a flier. We fought and we put ourselves back into the game," said Walter.

Walter added that the contest between the two teams was good and as a result, the best team on the day won. "So, for me, there's nothing even remotely close to a choke that happened out there today. It's a serious contest between two good teams in the tournament," added Walter.