2 likeable teams, 1 will remain unlucky
Imran Tahir is expected to play a key role in the middle overs against the Kiwis. (Source: Reuters)
A semifinal of a World Cup should be about celebration and never about sorrow but it’s so difficult not to see tomorrow, when New Zealand take on South Africa in Auckland, as Dark Tuesday.(Full Coverage| Venues | Fixtures)
New Zealand, a small nation, has got intoxicated on the high of the aggressive brand of cricket of this team. If they were to freeze at the final game of the tournament in this country, imagine the tears.
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Now imagine the curses that would fly in Johannesburg if South Africa choke again in a big knock-out game. ‘Oh no not again’ is one of the most cruel and empty feelings in sport.
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For one, the dream is set to continue, in keeping its hopes alive of entering the last game of the tournament for the first time. For the other, it will be another morale-sapping near-success.
Monday morning dawned like a bad omen for New Zealand. Adam Milne, their fastest bowler and their seamer, was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury to his left heel.
Replacing him will be someone — the decision will be taken on Tuesday afternoon after a look at the conditions — who has never played in this tournament before.
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Imagine the pressure on the poor lad, and by extension on the rest of the bowling attack, while trying to take the step up. On Tuesday then, New Zealand can’t afford any nerves from their star man Trent Boult, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.
Sometimes, in sport, we say that the moment of pressure can be a cathartic release but history has shown that it isn’t the case with South Africa. Every time they come close, they freeze.
AB de Villiers talked about how he is handling it. “I have fought it (the tag of chokers), accepted it, fought it again, and accepted it again,” he said. It’s a perennial issue with them, this team that would excite any therapist.
But somehow, it promises to be different this time. That line has been used in the last two or three big ICC events but with AB de Villiers, who has openly talked about it, and also sulked publicly, it just feels that this team has benefited from a man who hasn’t been afraid of showing his emotions.
Both teams are genuinely likeable teams. You don’t have to be a parochial citizen of either country to like them. Their history of losing also adds to this mix. We don’t associate losing with New Zealand, for most of the times they have punched above their weights. But they mostly, always, lose. South Africa appeal to our sense of sympathy as it’s difficult to dislike a team of champions who suddenly choke on the big day.
These teams aren’t Australia or the old West Indies, teams used to winning. These are the nearly-there ones. They do not know what it takes to be in a World Cup final. And so, the prevalent sentiment of this semifinal is going to be about who cracks first —- and that pressure is likely to show the most on one team.
Source:: Indian Express
