South Africa’s head coach, Rob Walter, believes that his team’s performance against Australia in the second World Cup semifinal was not a choke, despite suffering a defeat. Walter stated that a choke, for him, is losing a game that you are in a position to win, and he felt that his team was behind right from the start but fought back into the competition.
Walter admitted that his team fell short by 30-40 runs and believed that having 30 more runs could have made a difference in the outcome of the game. He emphasized that their performance was a serious contest between two good teams and there were many positives to take home from the match.
Regarding the decision to bat first after winning the toss, Walter mentioned that the pitch played unexpectedly in the first five overs, and they would have backed themselves to get 270 if it had played as they expected. He also revealed that their pace spearhead, Kagiso Rabada, had a bruised heel, which affected his performance in the game.
Overall, Walter expressed disappointment at the loss but acknowledged the challenges faced by the team, including Rabada’s injury, and highlighted the positives to take away from the match.
