t's another bitter pill forthe Proteas to swallow...

Derek Pringle looks at the turbulent road of SouthAfrica at the World Cup with their tournament all but ended by New Zealand this week.

It is never wise to mockmisfortune yet somehow, when it comes to South Africa’s cricket teams, sympathy turns to schadenfreude every time they mess up – something of a default position for them in World Cups.

The widespread glee, at their expense, probably has something to do with the macho nature of South Africa’s sport and the fact that it appears largely humour-free. If they didn’t take it so seriously I doubt the measure of their latest downfall, or the ones that preceded it, would be half as pleasurable to opponents.

The latest calamity everyone is talking about is their defeat on Wednesday to New Zealand in the World Cup, a loss that almost surely seals their exit from a tournament they entered as third favourites just three weeks ago.

In a match played under leaden skies at Edgbaston on a pitch that demanded respect from the batsmen, South Africa read the runes and limited their ambition to a total which New Zealand would have to work hard for rather than be gifted. Except that, in the end, that is exactly what happened after Faf du Plessis’ team fluffed the opportunity that could have won them the game.

The boo-boo occurred in the 41st over when Colin Miller failed to take a throw from bowler Kagiso Rabada as Kane Williamson, the one batsman seemingly in control of the situation, hesitated over a leg bye. A clean take by Miller, at the bowler’s end, would have seen him run-out with New Zealand still needing 58 off 53 balls but with only four wickets in hand. Instead, Williamson survived, reached his hundred in the final over with a six, and saw his team home with three balls to spare.