South Africa coach Shukri Conrad has described his side’s nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the men’s T20 World Cup semifinals as a “bloody walloping”.
The Proteas went into the match at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens as the only unbeaten team in the tournament.
Their winning run included a seven-wicket thrashing of New Zealand in a group match.
The Black Caps spectacularly turned the tables, however, with opener Finn Allen smashing an unbeaten 33-ball century to secure victory with more than seven overs to spare.
“Tonight was not a choke. I thought it was a bloody walloping,” Conrad told reporters after the match.
“In order for you to choke, you must have had a sniff in the game. We didn’t have a sniff.”
Conrad said the Black Caps put themselves in the box seat when they restricted the Proteas’ explosive batting line-up to a modest 8-169.
“They gave us absolutely nothing, and they really squeezed particularly well,” Conrad said.
“Their spinners were exceptional in those conditions.
“Obviously, it would have been a nice toss to win, but that’s no excuse. We didn’t post anything close to what would have been competitive.”
Player-of-the-match Allen said New Zealand’s bowlers set up the win.
He heaped praise on his opening partner Tim Seifert (58), with the pair compiling a decisive first-wicket stand of 117.
“Timmy started off really strongly, and he looked to get on top of their bowlers early, which then made it easy for me to settle into my innings,” Allen said.
“For me, I just looked to play almost a support role to Tim.
“If it were in my area, I’d try and hit it for four or six, and if it wasn’t, just get a single and get him on strike.”
India and England meet in the second semifinal at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Friday morning AEDT.
The final will be played on Monday morning AEDT at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Reuters
