New Delhi: Today also, it was not meant to be! Sad state of affairs continued for the South African cricket team as they yet again failed to fight the knockout hurdle with strings of World Cup heartbreaks continuing for the side in white-ball cricket.

Emerging as the strongest of all the 20 sides in the 10th edition of the T20 World Cup, a doomed Proteas unit failed to tackle a strong New Zealand team in the first semifinal of the marquee event as the latter made an absolute mockery of the 170-run target. On the most crucial day of the global ICC event, the who’s who in the Proteas batting batting unit failed to deliver for the side after they were put into bat first.

Had it not been for all-rounder Marco Jansen’s fiery fifty, the South African batters would not even managed 169/8 on board, which they did courtesy of Jansen’s 55 runs and little efforts from Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs.

Whatever they did with the bat took them to a respectable total but South Africa seemed to be hapless while defending as they just snapped a lone Kiwi wicket, also allowing them to chase down a good total in just 12.5 overs, with Finn Allen blowing them away.

Primed for maiden T20 WC title, horror strikes SA again

South Africa looked absolutely primed for their maiden T20 World Cup title but fate had something else written for them. The runners-up of the last edition were flawless in the entire campaign, en route to the first knockout but failed to keep their best for the last.

Seeing Proteas in the semifinal clash against the Kiwis looked like the side had exhausted everything they had during their journey and literally were empty-handed when it mattered the most. The only team which remained unbeaten all through the group stage and the Super 8s fell at the most crucial juncture, which could have put them at brink of history with just one more game to go.

The unbeatable side marked four out of four wins, that too convincingly, in the group stage to enter the Super 8 undefeated and charged up. In the Super 8s too, they appeared flawless pocketing all three matches with ease, also handing defending champions India a big loss. Considering the Kiwi prowess, the Proteas were not less in any respect but a poor show in all the departments led to another failure.

Semifinal ghosts resurface despite conviction

Talking about South Africa’s World Cup knockout failures, 1992 ODI World Cup (Semifinal), 1999 ODI World Cup (Semifinal), 2015 ODI World Cup (Semifinal), 2023 ODI World Cup (Semifinal) and 2024 T20 World Cup (Final) were some of the key heartbreak moments but the embarrassing loss in the 2026 T20 World Cup semifinal would really push them against the wall. This loss also ended SA’s streak of most consecutive wins (7) in the edition today.

While some of the weight was eased with the WTC triumph last year, coach Shukri Conrad and skipper Aiden Markram seemed to be defiant when asked about old history. In the lead up to the semifinal, the duo only thought and talked about adding new strides at the ICC tournaments for the team but destiny proved them wrong.

Biggies fail on biggest day

While they seemed to be flawless in the entire campaign but all the big stars in the South African unit failed to deliver today, which was the biggest day for them. Captain Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton and David Miller would be cursing themselves today after not being able to contribute for the side, on a day which could have taken them close to glory.

It was not only for the batters as Jansen filled up shoes despite being a utility player but the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj and Jansen failed to exhibit skills with the ball as the Kiwi batters rode on them. All these players who had contributed for their side in taking them to the semis, failed to stop the ruthless Kiwis, not mentioning the fielding mischances which further spoiled things.