If there is one team that appears to want this trophy more than any one else, it is the team that won the knock out tournament in 1998.
icc champions trophy
South Africa lost a bitter match in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean in a semi final match against Australia. South Africa tasted stunning defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England. Every time South Africa look to prove a point, they fall at that pivotal hurdle. While South Africa have stated that it was not the choking, as has been unkindly attached to them, that has got the better of them in recent years, but rather it is the opposition, in the last case – Shahid Afridi, that did them in.
smith with champions trophy
But South Africa have not gained the number one rank in the ICC ODI rankings on a fluke. A lot of deliberate planning, strategizing and hard work and they believe they have the wherewithal and personnel and there is no reason why they cannot do it. A win here in the final of a key tournament ahead of the World Cup would help them break the jinx in front of home audience before the big event.
That is what Graeme Smith is hoping for and he has men such as AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Johan Botha and Albie Morkel to back his self belief.
south african supporter
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