South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad delivered a blunt assessment after his side suffered a heavy defeat to New Zealand in a one-sided semi-final at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
Finn Allen’s record-breaking World Cup century and Tim Seifert’s half-century made short work of the 170-run target, as New Zealand completed the chase in under 13 overs with nine wickets in hand. Speaking after the match, Conrad expressed his frustration over South Africa’s performance.
“I don’t know if tonight was a choke. I thought it was a bloody walloping. I think in order for you to choke, you must have had a sniff in the game,” Conrad said in Kolkata. “We didn’t have a sniff. In South Africa, we say we got moered (smashed). Tonight, we got a proper snotklap, also a South African word meaning a real hiding.”
New Zealand had never previously beaten South Africa in a T20 World Cup match. Earlier in the tournament, the Proteas had comprehensively defeated the same opposition during the group stage. However, in the semi-final, the Black Caps halted the unbeaten run of Aiden Markram’s side with a dominant display.
South Africa’s problems began early. After losing the toss, they lost three wickets at the top of the order. Despite a late counterattack from Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs, the Proteas could not push their total beyond 169. In response, New Zealand’s batting line-up gave them little opportunity to fight back.
“They strangled us up front, we lost wickets and we didn’t get any sort of momentum going,” he said. “A hell of a lot didn’t go right tonight, but that was probably enforced because they [New Zealand] were so good and they never gave us a sniff. I’m not going to sit here and try and make excuses for a bad night. We weren’t good and they were excellent.”
The loss also marked South Africa’s second semi-final defeat at Eden Gardens in an ICC tournament, following their loss to Australia at the same venue during the 2023 World Cup.
