World Cup 2023: South Africa coach Rob Walter insists semi-final defeat 'nothing even remotely close to a choke'

South Africa failed to snap their ICC World Cup semi-final jinx despite a valiant fightback from the dire straits, suffering a narrow three-wicket defeat against five-time world champions Australia in Kolkata on Thursday. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table The Proteas, who are yet to reach the ICC World Cup final since their debut in 1992, fought back from 24/4 to post a competitive 212, thanks mainly to David Miller’s fighting 101. The South Africans would later claw back with the ball after the Aussies raced to 60 for no loss in six overs, thanks primarily to their spin trio of Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and Aiden Markram. Australia, however, managed to stay calm under immense pressure and reach the target with three wickets and 16 deliveries to spare at the Eden Gardens setup a summit clash against hosts India.

South Africa coach Rob Walter would have expected to face questions pertaining to his team “choking” yet again in a crunch game at the sport’s showpiece event. Walter, however, insisted it was far from the case and that he was proud of the way his boys fought back against the Pat Cummins-led side. Analysis | Close but not enough for SA as they look to new generation Walter provided his personal definition of a choke, stating, “for me, a choke is losing a game that you are in a position to win. “In this instance, we were behind right from the word go, and we actually fought our way back into the competition and put up a score that gave us a chance,” Walter said in the post-match media conference. We’re 30-40 runs short Walter said his team was 30-40 runs short. “And then, again, they (Australia) got us to a flier. We fought and we put ourselves back into the game,” he said, adding 30 more runs would have made the difference. “Of course, we were 30 runs or 40 runs short, but still having them seven down. “So, for me, there’s nothing even remotely close to a choke that happened out there today. It’s a serious contest between two good teams of the tournament. “It’s gutting to lose semi-final. It was incredibly serious challenge in first 12 overs. To come back from 12/4 (24/4) the with the way Klaasen and Miller put together, it showed 270 was the total. “Even 250 would have proved to be a serious total. First 10 overs on either side separated the game. But there were a lot of positives to take home,” Walter added. Read | ‘We want to take on the best’: Starc on IND vs AUS World Cup final Asked if they erred in batting first after winning the toss, he said: “To be honest, even the commentators that I’ve spoken to, no one could predict the pitch to play like that for the first five overs. “And had it played as we expected it to, then we would have backed ourselves to get 270. “And once we got 270, because it was turning so much in the evening, we knew that that was going to be our end into the game. “And ultimately it was, really. We just didn’t have enough runs to work with. It’s easy to say in the back end of losing, but I think the contest would have been even a touch closer than it really was. KG has bruised heel The coach further revealed that their pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada had a bruised heel which proved to be a setback. Rabada could bowl only six overs returning with 1/41. “KG had a bruised heel, that’s why we didn’t see as much of him in the contest as we would have expected to. “If you’re watching him on the park, you’re seeing him limping around. So he bowled, he just wasn’t able to deliver 100 per cent. “And obviously with that, it also led to bringing Aiden on, and Aiden was outstanding the whole way through the game. “Obviously, a fit and able KG has shown throughout this competition that he was one of our leading bowlers and has been for some time. “It was a pity, and it was a defining moment in the game to be dead honest.” With inputs from PTI