The Super 12s at the Men’s T20 World Cup came to a thrilling conclusion after an action-packed Sunday produced another shock in a tournament of upsets.
The latest surprise is arguably the biggest of them all as South Africa, one of the pre-tournament favourites, were eliminated after a stunning 13-run defeat by the Netherlands, who were the lowest-ranked side left in the tournament.
That left the door ajar for Pakistan, who blasted right through it to join England, New Zealand and India in the semi-finals.
As the dust settles what now for “emotional” South Africa after this latest in a long line of tournament failures? Will Pakistan make the most of their second chance? And have the tournament minnows earned their chance to rub shoulders with the big boys more often?
‘Emotional’ South Africa ‘falter when it really matters’
It is yet another failure at a major tournament for the Proteas, who have a habit of stumbling when it matters despite regularly possessing some of the most talented players.
Their most notorious failure is arguably the 1999 World Cup semi-final, when they were tied with Australia in the final over with one wicket remaining only for a mix-up between Lance Klusener and Allan Donald leading to a run out, with Australia progressing as they had finished higher in the earlier group stage.
It has been a familiar tale of woe since then, either by calamity or misfortune.
They can rightly curse bad luck when they batted their way into a dominant position in their first match of this tournament against Zimbabwe only for wet weather to lead to an abandonment.
Two wins, including an impressive five-wicket victory over India, put their fate back into their own hands. But successive defeats to Pakistan and the Netherlands etches another sorry chapter in South African cricket history.
“We deserve better as squad. We’ve got ourselves to blame,” said Mark Boucher, who announced in September that he is to step down as coach after the tournament.
“We’re in a good position we just have to keep the players interested in playing for South Africa. That’s a big question that needs to be answered.”
Captain Temba Bavuma added: “We knew it was a must-win game and we faltered when it really mattered. It’ll be a hard one to swallow for the guys.”
Speaking to BBC Test Match Special, former England batter Ravi Bopara said he has found South Africa players tend to be “emotional cricketers” which may explain why they often struggle at big tournaments.
“I don’t think anyone ever deserves to have that tag of not being able to hold their nerve or chockers or anything like that,” he said. “But you do find in ICC competitions, which is their big thing they don’t have an Ashes or an India/Pakistan rivalry, they don’t seem to hold their nerve when it comes to the big games unfortunately.
“They will improve and come back stronger and will be better after playing under extreme pressure [in their new T20 league]. Just a little bit less emotion would be the thing to work on with South Africa.”
‘Dangerous Pakistan have snuck through the back door’
For Pakistan, their journey to the semi-finals is a lesson in never giving up.
Babar Azam’s side made a calamitous start to the tournament, losing a thriller to a Virat Kohli-inspired India before a one-run defeat by Zimbabwe.
Successive wins over the Netherlands and South Africa still did not look like being enough – until the Proteas’ defeat to the Dutch gave them a second chance.
Again it was their bowlers who teed up their nervy victory over Bangladesh, with Shaheen Afridi, back to full fitness after missing the Asia Cup with a knee injury, taking 4-22.
Pakistan’s batting has yet to fully fire, especially the opening partnership of Babar, who has only scored 39 runs in the tournament, and Mohammad Rizwan.
“We got through to the semis because of the fans and all their prayers. Sometimes what the top cricketers need is when it gets difficult, they need support too not only when they get through to the semi-finals,” said Shaheen.
“Pakistan have snuck in through the back door and that makes them dangerous,” Bopara, who predicts an England v Pakistan final, told BBC TMS.
“They’ve won a World Cup like that before and it has that feel about it.”
‘With money, what could they become?’
Though it is the familiar faces who have progressed, this World Cup will also be remembered for the smaller cricketing nations who upset the big boys and added weight to the argument that they should be playing them more often.
Ireland and Scotland both beat two-time winners West Indies in the qualifying stage, while Ireland also famously beat England in a rain-affected match in Melbourne.
That proved to be their only Super 12 win, which meant they missed out on a top-four place which would have guaranteed their place at the 2024 tournament. But for captain Andrew Balbirnie the signs of progress are there after they failed to make the Super 12s in 2021.
“We’re by no means the finished article, but we certainly are a better team than we were 12 months ago, and that’s all you can ask,” he said. “At the start of the tournament, I said getting to the Super 12s would be a bonus. That’s our aim. It will be deemed successful.
“We’ve played some pretty good cricket, and it’s just a shame that we couldn’t create something really special.”
Zimbabwe have also contributed to the tournament, reaching the Super 12s with three wins from three before stunning Pakistan, in their only Super 12s win, which saw them finish bottom of Group 2.
“It has been a little bit disappointing to obviously finish with three losses,” said skipper Craig Ervine. “But we mustn’t forget the excellent work that we did. There’s a lot to take from this World Cup and build on that going forward.”
It is the Netherlands who had the final say, however, with that stunning South Africa win ensuring they finish fourth in Group 2 and earn direct qualification for 2024.
“We’ve felt like we haven’t played our best cricket this tournament and we just don’t get enough games against these big nations which always makes it difficult,” said opener Stephan Myburgh, who is retiring after this tournament.
“We probably only play in the World Cup so it’s very different as the guys aren’t used to it. The more we play the better we’ll do. I just hope we get more opportunities to play against the big nations.”
England bowler Alex Hartley told BBC TMS: “They are going to have a massive party tonight, surely? They’ve caused an upset and as a smaller side you want to send someone home and they’ve done that.
“If more money is pumped into these smaller nations and they play more cricket, what could they be? What could they become?”
