Champions Trophy under-achievers
Manoj Vatsyayana
If there is any team that has under-achieved the most in the
Champions Trophy it is South Africa, who this time failed to make it to
the semi-finals despite enjoying the home advantage.
Graeme Smith’s South Africans fail to clear the first hurdle after
posting just one win in three matches, again sparking debate whether
they will ever be able to break the big-event jinx.
South Africa have hosted three big tournaments — the 2003 World Cup,
2007 Twenty20 World Championships and the 2009 Champions Trophy — but
have failed to win any of them despite the home-ground advantage.
They were expected to top the four-team Group A of 2009 event but
lost the opening match to Sri Lanka. After beating New Zealand, they
faced England in a must-win match.
South Africa were let down by bowling in the big game as they
conceded 323 runs to England before finishing at 301 despite a
career-best 141 by Smith.
“Obviously, words like disappointment come to mind. It’s
disappointing when you’ve played a knock like that and not to get over
the line,” Smith said after the match.
“There really are no excuses to be made anymore. It’s the
responsibility of the group of players to go and perform better in these
(big) tournaments. This is a very disappointing moment for us.”
South Africa had entered the tournament as the world’s top-ranked
team, but paceman Dale Steyn said after his team’s exit that trophies
were more important than rankings. “You want to win silverware, you want
to be known as a team that walks in to a competition and is able to
dominate,” said Steyn. “Being ranked number one in Tests and one-dayers
is a fantastic feeling, but every year it changes and it works on
points. You won’t be able to take home any silverware from that.”
It was also an easily forgettable tournament for Sri Lanka and India.
Kumar Sangakkara’s Sri Lankans started on an impressive note when they
beat the hosts before losing their next two games against England and
New Zealand to bow out of the tournament.
Two of their big players, batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and off-spinner
Muttiah Muralitharan, failed to do justice to their stature.
Jayasuriya, the world’s second-highest scorer (13,377) in one-dayers
after Indian Sachin Tendulkar (16,903), could manage only 34 in three
matches. Muralitharan, the world’s leading wicket-taker in Tests (783)
and one-day internationals (512), appeared in two matches, conceding 106
runs in 18 overs for just one wicket.
India went into the tournament as one of the favourites, having won
five successive bilateral one-day series and a tri-series. But they were
under pressure after losing their opening match against Pakistan. They
shared points with Australia in a rain-hit game and then beat a depleted
West Indies side in their last match, but it came too late as they were
already knocked out of the competition. “Of course, the first game we
played we were off the boil. But apart from that game, the second was a
wash-out and the third we won,” skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said
after his team’s last match.
“You feel disappointed, but at the same time it is difficult to say
whether this performance was bad.”
It was the second time this year after the Twenty20 World
Championships in England that India had failed to make it to the
semi-finals of a big event.
JOHANNESBURG, Wednesday, AFP
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