CHOKERS RUN OUT OF TOWN
THE SIGHT of Faf du Plessis and David Miller stretching for the same end as Virat Kohli whipped off the bails at the other was the vignette that told the tale. Faced with another day of destiny at a global tournament, South Africa did what they do best. They blew it.
The beneficiaries were India, who cantered home by eight wickets and will in all probability meet Bangladesh in the second semifinal of this Champions Trophy at Edgbaston on Thursday. They look like the only team capable of stopping England.
But, for South Africa, it was a day when the c-word hung heavy in the south London air. And let’s not mince words: they choked so badly not even Dr Henry Heimlich and his airways-freeing manoeuvre could have saved them.
At 140 for two in the 29th over, they were on course to give India’s powerful line-up a run for their rupees in what was effectively a quarter-final.
But two quick run-outs changed the mood, triggering old demons and a collapse of eight for 51. It was the equal of any of South Africa’s surrenders down the years and there have been a few.
The first victim was AB de Villiers, who arrived here as one of the game’s glitterati but has endured a tournament to forget.
Called through for a non-existent run by his old friend Du Plessis, he dived for the crease and lost out to Hardik Pandya’s throw from point. His dismissal for 16 took his competition aggregate to just 20.
Five balls later came more calamity. Du Plessis dabbed Ravichandran Ashwin to short third man, set off for a single, then changed his mind. Miller kept running and Jasprit Bumrah calmly threw the ball to Kohli at the non-striker’s stumps.
It was schoolboy stuff, draining South Africa of all belief. Du Plessis soon dragged the ball on to his wicket against Pandya. The rest were no more than lemmings.
Appropriately, the innings ended with one more run-out, JP Duminy and No 11 Imran Tahir playing a game of ‘yes, no, wait’ — with predictable consequences.
‘Run-outs happen,’ said De Villiers. ‘But three in one innings is not the way we want to play our cricket.
‘It’s as disappointing as all the other losses in the past. It ranks right up there. But the way we lost was the most disappointing part of it. We were in a good position, and through soft dismissals we lost our way. That’s what hurt the most.
‘We come up short for some reason in tournaments like this. I can’t explain exactly what happens. We felt we had good chance, but we just unravelled.’
De Villiers also insisted he wanted to lead South Africa at the 2019 World Cup, where, he claimed — with a straight face — his side had a good chance of victory.
‘Not a lot of people believe me but I feel it’s pretty close,’ he said. ‘I’m a good captain. We just have to get it right when it matters most.’
That day has not arrived yet and India needed 192, which felt like a bit of an insult.
Rohit Sharma had an ugly mow at Morne Morkel, but — cheered on by a crowd touching 23,000, almost all of them Indian — Shikhar Dhawan and the inevitable Kohli added an alarm-free 128.
Kohli was still there on 76 at the end, which came with 12 overs to spare when Yuvraj Singh deposited Duminy over midwicket for six.
It was an emphatic coda to a miserable mismatch, but the crowd didn’t care.
Barring upsets, the Champions Trophy is heading for a rerun of the 2013 final between England and India. And India look in the mood to defend their title.