South Africa Twenty20 World Cup Team

South Africa Team - Twenty20 World Cup The South African has a Twenty20 team bristling with big-hitters and canny death bowlers. The country also boasts a flourishing domestic Twenty20 cricket league that has had a substantial impact on the quality of the cricketers coming through the ranks, who in turn have been fed into the Indian Premier League.

Despite these advantages, South Africa has not fulfilled its potential on the world stage either in the Twenty20 or ODI formats. The 2009 T20 World Cup saw South Africa produce its best performance as it reached the semifinals, before losing to eventual champions Pakistan. Many expect 2010 to be the year that South Africa finally wins a World Cup title in cricket.

Twenty20 World Cup History

South Africa hosted the first Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, and entered the tournament as one of the favourites to claim the title at the inaugural competition. The South Africans topped their group in the first stage of the tournament, but a low nett run rate prevented them from progressing beyond the Super Eights stage of the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup.

In 2009 South Africa produced a far better performance at the T20 World Cup. The South Africans won both their games in Group D before scoring three consecutive wins in the Super 8s Group E, beating India, England and the West Indies. Despite this promising showing, South Africa was unable to win its semifinal against Pakistan, losing to the eventual champions by 7 runs in a tense run chase.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The South African side appears to have all the ingredients required to make the final of the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup. Strong aggressive batting is matched by clinical bowling, and the South African side routinely raises the bar for international fielding standards. The side also has an uncanny ability to resurrect lost causes.

Despite this team’s never-say-die attitude, questions linger over the South African team’s ability to handle pressure in crunch games. When the South Africans have the advantage they rarely let it slip, however, they tend to crumble when faced with the tensions of a single winner-takes all encounter.