It is not as much choking as to the ordinary captaincy shown by Smith that they lost a match which they should have won. In 20/20 matches, wickets don't matter and you need to score runs at a fast clip . in the middle overs when spinners were operating he should have sent Albie Morkel and Mark Boucher up the order after they lost ABD. These two would have played unorthodox and high rish shots and probably lost their wickets but their 20 or 30 runs in about 2 or 3 overs would have brought down the run rate and then Van der merve who is also a big hitter should have come and then Duminy. Having such a batting depth till no 10, Smith missed the trick to utilize it. You can't always adopt a standard routine approach in a knock out situation and be innovative or apply out of the box thinking. Any this one loss doesn't take away the superiority of the South African team as the most all round team excelling in all the departments of the game
Re: 'Chokers' tag continue to haunt SA
by Rohit Maroli on Jun 19, 2009 03:24 PM
u dnt need pinch hitters to chase down 150 my frnd....as a matter of fact ab devillers duminy kallis all r capable spin players better than morkel...the spin bowling was good but it was pressure more than anything else...My suggestion for southafrica....plz loose 1 or 2 league games in every tournament..may be ten tey would win semis and finals... :)
Re: Re: 'Chokers' tag continue to haunt SA
by Sankaran Swaminathan on Jun 19, 2009 03:45 PM
150 may not be a big score but when the bowling is tight, you need unorthodox stroke players to play un expected shots and make the bowler wonder what to bowl next. This may change their rhythm and by the time they come back a 20 or 30 would have been scored and then the established players could have rounded off. This was my point and not that ABD,Kallis are not good players of spin. ABD any way lost his wicket and Kallis was also playing well but my reference was to the batting order that followed ABD which could have perhaps changed the tempo. The same SA team has been chasing much more difficult targets and have won but in T 20 there is very little time to think and things have to happen in just one or two overs. That is where Smith has failed to read the situation and accordingly. As I said earlier this SA team is the best in the world at present with an all round brilliance in all aspects and one loss does not diminish its level.
Re: 'Chokers' tag continue to haunt SA
by Astro San on Jun 19, 2009 03:57 PM
Pakis deliver when it matters. They are fighters to the core. All credit to confident and resurgent Pakistan and they are definitely going to lift this World cup
Yesterday South Africa batted exactly the same way Indian batted throughout this tournament.
Kallis and Duminy were batting exactly like Dhoni and Gambir against WestIndies or Jadeja and Gambhir against England. They should have promoted Morkel which certainly could have been very early stage.
Nothing to do...India thought they can make 10 Runs an over easily and thats why they hide Yuvraj& Yusuf.
Bad Luck. They are chokers and so was India choked in this World Cup.
