Rob Walter: Proteas one partnership away from doing something special in Champions Trophy loss

The Proteas lost yet another ICC semi-final on Wednesday night when they were handed a 50-run defeat by New Zealand in the second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy in Lahore.

Right from the start of the match, South Africa started on the back foot, losing a crucial toss in the batting paradise at the Gaddafi Stadium.

From that point onward, the Proteas just never recovered as they were asked to bowl first, only to be hammered, with the Black Caps setting a mammoth 362 runs as a target.

Under lights, on a worn surface – though the wicket was still batter-friendly – it had something for the bowlers and the New Zealand attack cashed in, defending their total with relative ease.

However, there were a number of poor performances in the Proteas side. Kiwi centurion Kane Williamson was dropped and the execution in the ‘death’ overs was dreadful, with the South Africans conceding over 100 runs in the last 10 overs.

Speaking following the loss, coach Rob Walter pointed out that the defeat was a result of a combination of errors.

The 49-year-old applauded David Miller’s unbeaten century, and pointed out that South Africa needed one more big partnership with the bat.

“I don’t think it was any one particular thing that resulted in the loss, probably a couple. Yes, we could have handled the last 10 overs a little bit better. They got away from us a little bit,” Walter told the media.

“There was a period in the middle of the innings where Kane and Rachin (Ravindra) upped the rate a bit. We missed a few opportunities there when we could’ve slowed things down.

“Then obviously the partnership that got broken when we were batting and really slowed us down in the middle.

“We saw Dave play unbelievably well in the end to get a hundred, and then you lose by 50 – and you know you’re one partnership away from doing something special.”

While New Zealand batters Williamson (102) and Rachin Ravindra (108) stole the spotlight with sparkling centuries, spinners Mitchell Santner (3/43) and Michael Bracewell (1/53) excelled ,while Proteas spinner Keshav Maharaj (0/65) struggled.

Walter highlighted that the wicket was more conducive to spin in the second innings than it was in the first, when the South Africans had the ball in hand.

“They played particularly well against Keshav. The ball did spin a little bit more in the second innings, which would’ve contributed to that,” said Walter.

“Kesh is a world-class bowler, we know that. To put him under pressure and then turn the tide and change the flow of the game, we have to commend the two world-class batters batting together.”