Poetic justice for the Proteas

South Africa finally managed to overcome the jinx that had seen them remain without a title triumph in a major championship conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Their victory over Australia by a margin of five wickets in the finals of the World Test Championship held at Lord’s last week must have caused equal amounts of joy and relief to both the players and the officials. This win was all the more sweeter as it came against Australia, a side known for elevating their performance levels in critical games and fighting till the end to grab improbable victories.

The Temba Bavuma-led Proteas side has much to be proud of after this game. The Aussies were the all-round favourites to retain the title that they had won a couple of years ago, defeating India. When they struck back after being dismissed for a low first innings score of 212 to restrict South Africa to a measly 138, it appeared that they were on their way to their second consecutive title. But South Africa fought back to reduce the reigning champions to 73 runs for 7 wickets, but the Aussie tail wagged vigorously, and the last three wickets added 134 runs. It appeared at this stage that South Africa was shut out of the contest as the last innings target of 282 runs appeared beyond their capacities.

However, South Africa surprised the followers of the game with a resolute batting performance when they started their second innings in the second session of the third day. Anchored by Aiden Markram, who played the innings of his career, their batting blossomed. The turning point in the match was the third wicket partnership of 137 runs between Markram and Bavuma. Though the side lost a couple of wickets early on the fourth day and Markram himself was dismissed just prior to reaching the target, there were no hiccups as the side coasted to a much sought-after win.

Apart from Markram, who was presented with the Player of the Match award for his exemplary knock of 136, South Africa had two more heroes who contributed significantly towards this win. They were the fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, who returned with match figures of 9 wickets for 110 runs (5 for 51 and 4 for 59) and skipper Bavuma with his solid contributions with the bat (33 and 66), besides leading the side with elan and poise.

With this victory, South Africa finally wiped away the stain of being “chokers”, a tag that was put on them after their semifinal match against Australia in the 1999 ICC World Cup. Though the game ended in a tie, the Aussies entered the final having defeated their opponents in an earlier “Super Six” game. This was a game that was firmly in control of South Africa, but their last wicket pair of Lance Klusener and Allan Donald allowed tension to get the better of their good sense and went for a suicidal run that resulted in the latter getting dismissed in a near comical fashion.

This was a heartbreaking loss, but even worse was the fact that it took the side close to 26 years to get over the trauma caused by it. During this period between 1999 and 2025, South Africa reached the last four stages of the ICC championships no fewer than 8 times, including one appearance in the finals, but could not win any trophy. In most of the games, they were well placed till something or the other happened that took the match out of their hands. Amongst these, the defeats suffered in the semifinals of the 2015 ICC World Cup and 2024 ICC T20 World Cup were particularly galling.

The 2015 World Cup semifinals held in Auckland was a rain-affected match, due to which the innings of each side were limited to 43 overs. New Zealand, set a target of 298 runs through the Duckworth-Lewis method, got off to a rollicking start, thanks to a brilliant knock off 59 off 26 balls by Brendan McCullum. But South Africa regained the upper hand after the dismissal of McCullum, which they managed to retain till Grant Elliott took it away from them in the final overs. They were helped in no small measure by dropped catches, missed runouts and overthrows by a side that was nothing short of outstanding in the field till then. In the end, Dale Steyn, the best fast bowler in the world, bowled a couple of poor overs, allowing the Kiwis to win with only one ball to spare. This loss so devastated the players that some of them broke down on the field itself.

The defeat at the hands of India in the 2024 T20 World Cup was even worse as it happened in the finals. Here also victory appeared to be within South Africa’s grasp, when they cruised to a score of 151 for 4 wickets at the close of 16 overs, chasing a target of 177. Scoring 26 runs in 4 overs in a T20 game will be considered as child’s play by any self-respecting international side. But a loose shot by Hansen Klaasen, who was batting beautifully with 52 runs to his credit, allowed India to inch their way back into the game. India tightened the grip after this dismissal, conceding only 10 runs in the next 3 overs, even as their opponents started choking. When the last over started, South Africa needed 16 runs, which was not an impossible target. David Miller’s heavy swing off the first ball connected, and the ball appeared to disappear into the crowd at long-off when out of the shadows emerged Suryakumar Rao, clinging to the ball to bring about an unbelievable catch! There was no doubting the winner after that and South Africa went down tamely by a margin of 7 runs.

All these ghosts of the past have been well and truly buried with this splendid victory in the finals of the world championship in test matches. It is only poetic justice that South Africa begin their title run in international cricket at Lord’s, with a triumph in the longest version of the game. They were arguably the best team in the world in test cricket in 1970, having thrashed the mighty Australia by a 4-0 margin when other countries stopped playing with them due to the policy of racial discrimination followed by the government there. So, it is only fair and proper that their first title in the ICC championship, after their return to international cricket more than three decades ago, is in the arena of test cricket, where they were the uncrowned kings till they were banned.

The beauty of sports is that it allow the competitors many opportunities to come back and make repeated attempts to win the title. It goes without saying that talent alone will not make a successful sportsperson or a winning team. Fortitude, determination, discipline and temperament are as important in their drive to attain success and excellence. Choking and failing at the last or critical stages are integral parts of any sports discipline. Only those who are mentally strong will return to the arena to keep trying till their efforts are rewarded, as it happened to the South Africans last week. And when this happens, victory is all the sweeter.

Before concluding, one should mention a word here about Jana Novotna, the woman tennis player from Czechoslovakia who won the Wimbledon championship in 1998. Novotna reached the finals of this championship in 1993 and ran a 4-1 lead in the third set against Steffi Graf. But, at this point, she suddenly choked, and her game went haywire. Graf sensed the opportunity and moved in for the kill, easily demolishing her opponent to win the title. Novotna was so despondent that she broke down during the prize-giving ceremony and had to be consoled by the Duchess of York, who was the chief guest. Her attempts to win the title during the following years also failed. In 1997, she reached the finals, where she was defeated by Martina Hingis. At this stage, almost everyone wrote her off, saying that she was a choker, not destined to win Wimbledon. But she did not give up, and in 1998, five years after losing to Graf, she fought her way through and won the championship. It was probably the only occasion when the entire crowd wanted one player to win; such was the sympathy and support that the fans of the sport extended to this lion-hearted champion.

Well played, South Africa! May this be the first of many such victories on the big stage of international cricket.