‘We got a real hiding’: Dismal déjà vu for Proteas after World Cup ‘walloping’

Murphy’s Law states: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” And South Africa’s senior men’s cricket team experienced this first-hand in their 2026 T20 World Cup semifinal encounter against New Zealand on Wednesday, 4 March.

The Proteas came into the clash with their tails up after a relatively comfortable journey through the initial stages of the tournament, boasting seven wins from ­seven matches.

However, they were soundly outclassed by the Kiwis at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. The New Zealanders were peerless throughout as they brought down the high-flying South Africans in a nine-wicket walloping.

“I’m not going to sit here and try to make excuses for a bad game,” said Proteas coach Shukri Conrad, who was taking charge of the team for the first time in a World Cup after replacing Rob Walter just under a year ago.

The Proteas were aiming to make a second successive final in the World Cup of the shortest format of international cricket, having made their World Cup decider debut two years ago. They came up against a New Zealand team that were in a mean mood and they were thoroughly outclassed on the day.

This was despite boasting one of the tournament’s top run-makers, Aiden Markram. His compatriots, bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Corbin Bosch, as well as towering all-rounder Marco Jansen, were in the upper echelons of the tournament’s leading wicket-takers.

Proteas wilt

But in Kolkata they looked like a shadow of the team that had subdued the Kiwis in a seven-wicket win during the group stages. They were not the same team that displayed nerves of steel during their historic double Super Over win over Afghanistan earlier in the tournament.

On that fateful night in Kolkata, there was no sight of the Proteas team that easily eased past 2024 T20 World Cup champions India, as well as former winners West Indies. They could not stitch together any meaningful partnerships.

They then struggled with ball in hand after posting a lukewarm total of 169. These struggles were highlighted by New Zealand opener Finn Allen posting a tournament record 33-ball unbeaten century.

“Such is the nature of T20 cricket. You have a bad couple of overs and then you struggle to pull it back. But it’s got nothing to do with nerves and the sense of the occasion,” Conrad said. “Nothing like that. It just happens to be another World Cup semifinal defeat.

“Now all the clichés [about us being chokers] will come out again. But it’s got nothing to do with that… I don’t know if tonight was a choke. I thought it was a walloping. We got our arses kicked. In order for you to choke, you must have had a sniff in the game. We didn’t have a sniff. We got a real hiding.

“There’ll be enough people jumping on the bandwagon [of us being chokers],” Conrad said. “But we did so many special things in the tournament. I’m so proud of these guys. Not many people gave us much of a chance of even getting to a semifinal when we left South Africa, given our form before that. But that’s no consolation.”

Proteas’ positivity

Indeed, the Proteas came into the tournament with just one series win in their past four series. Their sole win was against West Indies at the beginning of 2024. Before that they lost series to India, Pakistan, Australia and then India again.

However, in the tournament they played some sensational cricket and were tipped by many as favourites to win for the first time. It was not to be, once again. The South Africans have now lost eight World Cup semifinals in T20s and one-day internationals. Each stings as much as the others, but Conrad says the team have no choice but to pick themselves up.

“We were not good enough on the night. We didn’t post anything close to what would’ve been a competitive total. New Zealand was excellent. They exploited the conditions really well with their spinners and we just never got out of the blocks,” Conrad said.

“We chose a really crappy time to have a bad night. A lot was said about us having all our games in Ahmedabad and not having played anything in some of the other states. But that’s no excuse. They strangled us and we never got any sort of momentum going. A lot did not go right. But that was probably forced, because they were so good,” the Proteas coach added.

“You get judged on World Cups and winning them. But we did some exceptional things throughout the tournament; we played some really good cricket. The guys will be hurting. But they will soon realise that we were not good enough against New Zealand.”

Bright future

Despite the disappointment of defeat, there are many positives to take away from South Africa’s run in this World Cup – from Markram’s great all-round leadership, to future Proteas stars such as Dewald Brevis and Kwena Maphaka stepping up to showcase their quality.

In the lead-up to the semifinal, Conrad said: “There’s a calmness in the side, especially in the batting unit. Whatever the situation, someone will find a way. Besides the batting unit, the bowlers have also stepped up – except for maybe in the Afghanistan game, where we leaked so many wides and no-balls. Ever since then, I can only take off my hat to the bowlers. I’m really chuffed with our all-round game.”

But his stars were not able to step up when the occasion called for it. New Zealand, who have now beaten South Africa in three successive World Cup knockout matches, did. If they push on to win the World Cup, it might be some sort of consolation for the South Africans. They will be able to say they lost to the eventual champions.

For now, the Proteas will quickly catch their breath before they head off to New Zealand for a five-match T20 series. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.