The Highs and Lows of South Africa at Cricket World Cups

The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup is just two weeks away, and the buildup is in full swing. Every team has special moments they remember and moments they would rather pretend never happened. Ask any South African about Cricket World Cups and you are likely to see them scamper to a corner to cower. The Proteas haven’t exactly got a glowing record in the tournament.

But what are some of the lows and highs at World Cups for South Africa? We’ve picked five of each. Add your thoughts in the comments.

In 1992, South Africa had only just returned to international cricket. They were the darlings of the tournament with players such as Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes impressing on the global stage.

Earlier in the tournament, Rhodes had completed a run out of Inzamam ul-Haq that, to this day, still lives on in everyone's memory. They had beaten Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, India and Zimbabwe and were in the semi-final of the tournament.

South Africa needed 22 off 13 in the semi-final against England, but then the rain came down, and everything went to pot. After a 12-minute rain delay, the Proteas' victory target was revised from 22 runs from 13 balls to an impossible 22 runs from one ball. This rule was replaced for one-day international matches in Australia after the 1992 tournament, with the Duckworth-Lewis method coming into effect for the 1999 event onward.

Most South Africans will tell you that there wasn’t actually a World Cup in 1999. In the 1999 tournament's semi-final, a heartbreaking run out saw the "chokers" tag born. Australia scraped through to the final on net run rate after both sides were bowled out for the same score. That's the short of it. The lengthier version is still a fresh car for many South Africans.

Lance Klusener had gone on the charge, hammering 31 off 14 balls to help level the scores to 213 in the final over. South Africa needed one more run and had just one wicket in hand. Allan Donald ran for a single that was never there, and South Africa were all out as the Aussies claimed victory with two balls still to spare. The rumour has it that Donald insists he never heard the call.

In the same horrific match that involved the run out mentioned in the previous slide, Herschelle Gibbs committed a blunder that became famous.

Steve Waugh clipped the ball to Gibbs at square leg, but Gibbs fluffed the catch as he attempted to throw it up in the air in celebration. Waugh went on to score 120, and legend has it that he told Gibbs he had "just dropped the World Cup." Gibbs denied this quip in his autobiography.

As hosts of the 2003 World Cup, there were big hopes for South Africa. Instead of using the home-ground advantage, they didn't even make it out of the group stages. Another rain interruption resulted in the Duckworth-Lewis going in favour of Sri Lanka in South Africa's final match. The hosts were knocked out as Sri Lanka, Kenya and New Zealand progressed at their expense.  

This remains the freshest scar in South Africa's long history of painful World Cups. In their quarter-final clash against New Zealand in Mirpur, South Africa, collapsed spectacularly yet again to exit a tournament in the knockout stages.

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first, scoring just 221, with just one batsman passing 50. South Africa got off to an OK start as they waddled to 108-3. But then disaster struck, and South Africa lost their remaining wickets for just 64 runs. Not a single player managed a half-century, and just one batsman out of the middle and lower order managed to get into double figures.

South Africa’s last World Cup ended in tears, but there were some spectacular moments during the tournament. Most notably, beating India in Nagpur during the group stages. 

Sachin Tendulkar scored a hundred, Dale Steyn took five for 50 and South Africa won a close encounter by three wickets with two balls still remaining. Many had hoped that such a tight win would set the tone for the knockout games, but this is about as high as it got during the 2011 tournament for South Africa.

Andrew Hall was the chief destroyer in South Africa's emphatic nine-wicket win over England during the 2007 World Cup. He dismantled the lower order, well-supported by Andre Nel, to restrict England to 154 in 48 overs.

Shaun Pollock did not take a single wicket in that match, but he did finish with figures of 10-2-17-0, giving him an economy rate of just 1.70. South Africa made light work of the chase, reaching the target in under 20 overs.

OK, so it was only against the United Arab Emirates, but this kind of batting was extraordinary at the time. Kirsten plundered 188 off just 159 balls in an innings which included 13 fours and four sixes. Needless to say, South Africa strolled to a 169-run win over the UAE.

You know what they say about every dark cloud having a silver lining? Well, in 1999, Lance Klusener was that silver lining for South Africa.  With 281 runs in nine matches and 17 wickets to boot, Klusener was one of the darlings of the 1999 World Cup. If Allan Donald had heard the call for that run in the semi-final, who knows what Klusener might have done in the final. 

It does seem as if, though, great highs go with great lows for South Africa. Although they had a torrid time on the field during the 2003 World Cup, hosting the tournament was significant. The country was just nine years into democracy and had already successfully hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Adding the Cricket World Cup to their list of events aided South Africa’s reputation as a world-class destination for sporting events.

All information obtained firsthand.