After Lord’s glory, Temba Bavuma lifting 2027 World Cup in SA would truly exorcise Proteas ghosts of 1992, 1999

Ruck&Maul Column

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad wears his heart on his sleeve, even though you might not think it after watching him sit quietly in the left-hand corner of the Lord’s balcony.

Conrad spoke during the World Test Championship final against Australia about how the coaches like to keep a “poker face” of sorts when addressing the players, in order to keep them calm and focused on the job at hand.

The management would have had to employ the best of those faces when South Africa were bundled out for 138 in the first innings, and were 70/2 in the second in the hunt for victory.

That is why one of Conrad’s many inspirational lines in the aftermath of the triumph hit home: “Obviously, a lot of teams in different formats have got close and not got over the line.

“I think in some perverse sort of way, guys like Aiden (Markram) and Temba (Bavuma), having experienced the heartache and the trauma of not getting over the line, they become more experienced at handling pressure situations like this.

“I’m just so thrilled that those guys will get us over the line. An amazing feeling.”

Proteas supporters will remember the 22 off 1 ball situation at the 1992 World Cup semi-final against England, the 1999 semi-final Allan Donald run out against Australia, the 2015 semi-final where SA-born Grant Elliott hit the winning six, and most recently, the 2024 T20 World Cup final defeat to India.

For me, the T20 World Cup drama was actually the worst of all, as the Proteas were well in command at 151/4 off 16 overs, and required just 26 runs to win off 24 balls.

But then Rishabh Pant did his ‘trick’ to slow things down, and the next ball, Heinrich Klaasen was dismissed for 52 by Hardik Pandya to set in motion the worst possible nightmare for the Proteas.

The South Africans faced a similar situation at Lord’s last Saturday, as they needed just 69 runs to win with eight wickets in hand at the start of day four.

Surely the ‘C-word’ curse couldn’t strike again? Thankfully it didn’t, despite the loss of three more wickets, with Kyle Verreynne hitting the winning runs.

Conrad stated that Saturday’s play was “probably the two worst hours of cricket for me, but the two best at the same time... Living every emotion, sketching everything that could potentially go wrong. The mind just plays weird and wonderful games.”

The players rejoiced afterwards, with one highlight being batting coach Ashwell Prince singing the ‘Temba Bavuma from Langa’ song, while the team’s photoshoot with their suits and sunglasses was really cool too.

So, can the chokers tag finally be lifted from the Proteas’ necks? Of course.

But I feel that it would finally be dead and buried if they can win the 2027 World Cup on home soil.

The white-ball formats have been particularly galling for the South Africans, and the 50-over arena especially so.

There have been a number of fine Test victories over the last few decades – the multiple series triumphs in Australia come to mind – and the Proteas have even won the ICC mace previously, even though it wasn’t in a final.

How sweet wouldn’t it be to see Bavuma lift the World Cup trophy – hopefully Jay Shah won’t spoil the photo this time – in 2027?

It would truly exorcise the ghosts of the 1992 and 1999 World Cups, not to mention the nightmare of 2003 in Mzansi, when the old Duckworth-Lewis system struck with a vengeance in the group match against Sri Lanka in Durban.

I will never forget Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara’s sledge to SA captain Shaun Pollock at the time: “Lots of pressure here for the skipper. He’s going to let his whole country down now if he fails. Lots of expectations, fellas. The weight of all these expectations, fellas. The weight of the country, chaps. Forty-two million supporters right here, depending on Shaun.”

No pressure, Temba!