Can South Africa dream? If they start chasing like this, no one should be surprised if the Proteas go a long way in the tournament. Chasing has been South Africa's Achilles heel, especially in the World Cups as they have had so many heartbreaks in the second innings in the marquee event, especially in the knockouts. The messed-up chase against the Netherlands earlier in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup exposed the huge gap between Proteas while batting first and chasing.
However, luck favoured the brave on Friday, October 27 in Chennai as South Africa pulled off their second highest run-chase in World Cup cricket, only their third 250-plus chase in the tournament history. Here's a look at all three-
World Cup 1999: Owing to Sourav Ganguly's 97-run knock, India posted a decent score of 253 runs. Rahul Dravid too chipped in with a fifty with Lance Klusener taking three wickets as India knew that they needed to take early wickets to make the the total seem challenging. And they responded brilliantly with the ball as Javagal Srinath dismissed both the openers inside the powerplay. Then came a match-winning knock from Jacques Kallis, who like Ganguly also missed his century but made sure to take his team home with an innings of 96 runs. Jonty Rhodes and Klusener provided the finishing touches as South Africa chased a first 250-plus score in the World Cup.
World Cup 2011: A century from Sachin Tendulkar, a rapid knock from Virender Sehwag and an equally well-compiled innings from Gautam Gambhir meant India scored 267 runs from just the first two partnerships but then followed a monumental collapse which saw the Men in Blue get skittled out below 300 with Dale Steyn taking a five-wicket haul. Hashim Amla and Kallis smashed fifties and one thing that South Africa did well was stitching partnerships. Even if cameos or players getting starts, everyone throughout the order kept contributing and hence South Africa remained in the game. Harbhajan Singh with three wickets was the star with the ball but the batting depth prevailed in the end for South Africa with AB de Villiers, Johan Botha and JP Duminy scoring quickly and getting the Proteas over the line. That was India's only loss in the group stage in their title-winning campaign.
World Cup 2023: Having last won against Pakistan in the World Cup (T20 or ODI) back in 1999, South Africa, the perennial underperformers while chasing were already under pressure when Babar Azam chose to bat first. A score of 270 is not a tough one to chase but there's something on the board. Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen all batted in the fashion like they were in a hurry to get to the team hotel and Aiden Markram continued in the same way. At 206/4, it seemed like South Africa would cruise to the target before a collapse ensured, which took set Markram as well. However, a cool and calm Keshav Maharaj alongside Tabraiz Shamsi took their side home as South Africa recorded their second highest run-chase in the World Cup.
