LAHORE: South Africa’s ICC heartbreak continues as head coach Rob Walter reflects on their semi-final defeat to New Zealand, citing mishaps in the final 10 overs, a lack of key partnerships, and a slow start in their chase as decisive factors.

Despite an impressive run in the Champions Trophy leading up to the semi-final, South Africa faced a 50-run defeat against New Zealand on March 5. In the post-match press conference, Walter highlighted that poor death-over bowling and missed opportunities were key contributors to their loss. He praised New Zealand for a strong and clinical performance.

“I don’t think it was any one particular thing that resulted in the loss, probably a couple. We could have handled the last 10 overs a little bit better. They got away from us a little bit. There was a period sort of in the middle of the innings where Kane and Rachin started to up their rates a bit. And we missed a few opportunities there, we could have slowed things down and then obviously the partnership got broken when we were batting,” Walter said in a press conference.

Walter also pointed out that breaking key partnerships during their chase slowed South Africa’s progress. “We were just starting to get going and that partnership got broken and really slowed us down in the middle and obviously we saw Dave [Miller] play unbelievably well in the end to get a hundred and then you lose by 50 and you know you’re just one partnership away from doing something special,” he added.

He acknowledged that while South Africa showed moments of fight, their inability to execute key moments cost them dearly. New Zealand’s bowlers capitalised on every opportunity, exposing South Africa’s vulnerabilities under pressure. “We just lost a few key wickets in the middle. If we managed to maintain a strong partnership there, I think it would have been a pretty tight finish. Comparatively, if you look at the first 20 overs, there was nothing that separated the two teams,” he concluded.