What's new

Can anyone stop South Africa at the 2026 T20 World Cup besides South Africa?

RedwoodOriginal

RedwoodOriginal

Senior ODI Player
Joined
Jul 8, 2018
Runs
22,160
Post of the Week
4
akwlx8.jpg

I don't think it's a stretch to call South Africa the best team in the tournament right now, especially after their commanding performances today and the other night against India. You look at their side and it feels like they have everything besides that strong secondary spin-option. But their pace-attack is so good that it makes up for that in Indian conditions too. Their middle-order was a little under-exposed till the Super 8s but now they have shown their worth in gold too. The pace-attack is also the strongest in the tournament with the amount of variety it offers. It's strength is evident by the fact that the pace spreadhead has probably been the least impressive player in the side and yet they are still winning matches with the ball, while a bowler of Anrich Nortje's caliber can't even get into the playing XI. Beyond the players they have the tactics down to a T evident by their clinical display the other night against India where their bowlers came out with specific plans against specific players with a good awareness of conditions and executed them to perfection despite starting off on the backfoot.

Question is can anyone stop this rampaging South African side besides South Africa themselves? It's a known fact that they are their own worst enemies in pressure situations - as we have seen in ICC tournaments for what feels like an eternity, but recent evidence points towards a buck in that trend. That 2024 final notwithstanding we have seen South Africa and South African players prevail in high-pressure situations in the recent past. The 2025 World Test Championship final, the 2023 World Cup match against Pakistan or the recent T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan are specific recent examples from each format. And seeing players like Dewald Brevis coming in to bat for his side at 1-2 and hitting a ton in the SA20 final, or someone like Tristan Stubbs winning the final for his side from a seemingly improbable position; you can see that the future of South African cricket is very bright.

But it all goes back to those scars from the past that are embedded into the psyche of a team. It feels like every generation of South African players has their own traumatic ICC event. Question is, will this finally be the time that South Africa overcome that mental block of knockouts and win a white-ball World title?
 
Their pacers have mastered the slow ball, from what I've noticed. A key weapon to tame some of the big boshers in the tournament.
 
SA ll lose in semis against England who scored 300 against them not long ago
 
RexRex said:
Their pacers have mastered the slow ball, from what I've noticed. A key weapon to tame some of the big boshers in the tournament.
Click to expand...

I remember Shoaib Akhtar using the slow ball to devastating affect during the tail end of his career. Good to see South Africa return to that almost lost art in T20.
 
RexRex said:
Must have been a injury-ravaged attack.
Click to expand...
SA plays with 4 pacers and 1 spinner. England batters like Brook prefer pace. He is the worst batter in England lineup vs spin but Pakistan bowled trash part-time spin against him and made him score 100.
 
They will lose in semis which will be played outside Ahmedabad.

Saffers seems to have taken a liking of that ground
 
feels like they will be their own worst enemies, ICC knockouts are their kryptonite
hope I'm wrong though, really liking the kind of intelligent cricket I'm seeing from them
 
Team India will likely stop them if they meet them in the final again.

Kiwis also likely will stop them. Proteas can collapse too easily against Black Caps or Team India.
 
I dunno but I think it might be South Africa's time. I might be wrong but I think they are gonna win it this time.
 
Lol.

They never do anything when it matters. Will easily lose to India.
 
If SA reach the final and Pak doesn’t final will be in Modi stadium.. and one team has played every game there..
 
They are the most well prepared side. Played SA 20 contest. Even though lost 1-3 to India that was a tough series they gained experience from right before world cup. Also played ODI games in India. Also most of them are vastly experienced in world cups. Plays multiple formats most of them they can easily adapt to different pitches compared to India who are mostly T20 specialists and lack experience. SO i say it is very very hard to beat them unless they run into turning wicket like they did in december where India rolled them over for 74 runs. There are few occasions SA got creamed against moving balls as well.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Gurbaz destroyed every single SA bowler until had a brainfade of a shot. Also they sent stupid Mohammad nabi to face super over
Click to expand...

Yeah like I said they will lose for sure if it’s do or die. And they always lose vs India anyway.
 
They have looked very good many times before also, but can choke also.
 
They were prepared and executed their game flawlessly. I am actually glad that we got that reality check before the knock outs. We will meet them again in the finals and we will win.
 
Anything can happen in a KO , a SF game. High pressure , so handling it is the key. But , I beleive Eng or NZ will beat SA in a SF. Thats just my opinion though.
 
SA's weakness - Moving ball & Slightest grip on the surface. Both can completely bring down SA like minnows. Seen a few times.
 
I said once and I’ll say it again no one is stopping India winning this World Cup and defending their title. They had they blip and will hammer Southafrica if they meet again
 
SOUTH AFRICA AT NARENDRA MODI STADIUM

- Beat Canada.
- Beat Afghanistan.
- Beat New Zealand.
- Beat India.
- Beat West Indies.

5 wins in 5 games in T20 World Cup 2026 and final is scheduled to happen at the same ground.
:kp
 
Devadwal said:
SOUTH AFRICA AT NARENDRA MODI STADIUM

- Beat Canada.
- Beat Afghanistan.
- Beat New Zealand.
- Beat India.
- Beat West Indies.

5 wins in 5 games in T20 World Cup 2026 and final is scheduled to happen at the same ground.
:kp
Click to expand...
Onus is on someone to take them out in the semi final on a different ground. IT is possible. If SA bats first and puts a part total and someone like harry brook has a day out it could all be over for them
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Onus is on someone to take them out in the semi final on a different ground. IT is possible. If SA bats first and puts a part total and someone like harry brook has a day out it could all be over for them
Click to expand...
Big 'if'. Semi-finals come with their own pressure. Not everyday you get to see a semi-final like Mumbai, 2016. And South Africa's bowling attack will not be easy to take down, especially if Rabada starts firing like he did today.
 
RexRex said:
Their pacers have mastered the slow ball, from what I've noticed. A key weapon to tame some of the big boshers in the tournament.
Click to expand...
Ndigi's slow balls today were just beautiful to watch. WI players could only smile
 
Are all their matches at modi stadium...the final is also there but the semis are in wankhede or Kolkata...given their long tail which starts at 8...any earlybwickets will result in a choke.
 
RidiculousMan said:
InShaAllah Pakistan will take them down. Don't worry England are beating New Zealand and Pakistan are making it to the Semis after hammering Sri Lanka

#BelieveInAghasDuaThisRamadan
Click to expand...
Any team that will face Pakistan is semis is guaranteed to go to final. Let's hope England takes them down due to a fluke innings...Pak cannot take sa down even with sahbazada firing
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Big 'if'. Semi-finals come with their own pressure. Not everyday you get to see a semi-final like Mumbai, 2016. And South Africa's bowling attack will not be easy to take down, especially if Rabada starts firing like he did today.
Click to expand...
Ngidi is somewhat good no these tracks. Others are easy to target. Their bowling is not a great bowling unit. Rabada never fired in the IPL. He is no Hazlewood.
 
Hawkeye said:
Lol.

They never do anything when it matters. Will easily lose to India.
Click to expand...
South Africa were just 3 overs away from winning the last World Cup; 155/5 after 17 overs chasing India's 176

Bumrah then turned the game on its head in the 18th over when he bowled Klassen and conceded just 2 runs.
 
IF England upper order gets in order, they can certainly beat them. If Pak gets through, you never know what flavor they will dish out - usually they capitulate in semis. I doubt NZ will be a threat - Since they will play on Indian roads, they won't be able to contain SA. Pak will host them in SL where they have the best odds, If it was in India, zero chance.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Ngidi is somewhat good no these tracks. Others are easy to target. Their bowling is not a great bowling unit. Rabada never fired in the IPL. He is no Hazlewood.
Click to expand...
Their bowling is probably the best in the tournament and it's because of the depth they possess. There are no easy bowlers like Shivam Dube in this attack. Their bowling can have a bad day, but that will only be the case if its a good batting track. And if its a good batting track then you can bet your lucky stars that their batting line-up will enjoy batting on that pitch too. Because their batting might arguably be the strongest of the tournament too.

Like I said, the only thing standing in South Africa's way is South Africa.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Their bowling is probably the best in the tournament and it's because of the depth they possess. There are no easy bowlers like Shivam Dube in this attack. Their bowling can have a bad day, but that will only be the case if its a good batting track. And if its a good batting track then you can bet your lucky stars that their batting line-up will enjoy batting on that pitch too. Because their batting might arguably be the strongest of the tournament too.

Like I said, the only thing standing in South Africa's way is South Africa.
Click to expand...

Something will happen they won't win.

India WI England are gonna win it.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Their bowling is probably the best in the tournament and it's because of the depth they possess. There are no easy bowlers like Shivam Dube in this attack. Their bowling can have a bad day, but that will only be the case if its a good batting track. And if its a good batting track then you can bet your lucky stars that their batting line-up will enjoy batting on that pitch too. Because their batting might arguably be the strongest of the tournament too.

Like I said, the only thing standing in South Africa's way is South Africa.
Click to expand...
They are playing 5 matches out of 6 on the same track. That factors. India have treated them like minnows in recent times on any surface that offered very little grip. At CUttack India bowled them out for 74 runs in december mostly seamers ran through the same side. THey had no answer againts Bumrah, ARshdeep, Varun C. They lost 1-3 in India. Their bowling is one-dimensional. Spin is very weak for them.
 
Anyone can win on their day. It's a t20 game. So Eng or NZ can beat SA in the SF. No guarantees anywhere. The better team on the day wins period. You can win 5 on a tow andlose the 6th which is a SF. KO games pressure is completely different
 
AZulfi said:
South Africa were just 3 overs away from winning the last World Cup; 155/5 after 17 overs chasing India's 176

Bumrah then turned the game on its head in the 18th over when he bowled Klassen and conceded just 2 runs.
Click to expand...

Yes. They will initially show that brilliance but end up losing.
 
At this stage South Africa looks like invincible yeam, but their real test begins when K/o starts..... history reflects South Africa chokes in K/o
 
South Africa is looking dangerous as they always have been in ICC tournaments.. I am expecting INdia SA final again... South Africa might choke in the final again...LOL
 
BouncerGuy said:
South Africa is looking dangerous as they always have been in ICC tournaments.. I am expecting INdia SA final again... South Africa might choke in the final again...LOL
Click to expand...
India hasn't qualify for semi !!!! Btw this South Africa team is very different to earlier team's who choked in knockout stages.

Miller, Bravis - Two most clutch player for South Africa in knockout stages.

:ko
 
Devadwal said:
India hasn't qualify for semi !!!! Btw this South Africa team is very different to earlier team's who choked in knockout stages.

Miller, Bravis - Two most clutch player for South Africa in knockout stages.

:ko
Click to expand...
They will... I am expecting them to meet again in final.
 
They looked terrible under pressure vs Afg. Afghanistan only lost that game because they are yet to mature as a cricketing nation when critical decisions need to be taken under pressure.

SA seem unreliable to me at this point when the heat is really on. They are very capable of choking again.
 
pillionrider said:
They looked terrible under pressure vs Afg. Afghanistan only lost that game because they are yet to mature as a cricketing nation when critical decisions need to be taken under pressure.

SA seem unreliable to me at this point when the heat is really on. They are very capable of choking again.
Click to expand...
Playing almost all their games at 1 ground has certainly helped, not that its their problem.
 
South Africa have got used to the slow surface at Ahmedabad just like India at Durban in 2007 edition. India went on to win the final at Joburg back then, South Africa have to play the semi at Wankhede which is bouncy flat wicket unlike the slow wicket at Ahmedabad.

If one of Brook, Buttler get going, it's curtains for South Africa.
 
CricVet said:
IF England upper order gets in order, they can certainly beat them. If Pak gets through, you never know what flavor they will dish out - usually they capitulate in semis. I doubt NZ will be a threat - Since they will play on Indian roads, they won't be able to contain SA. Pak will host them in SL where they have the best odds, If it was in India, zero chance.
Click to expand...
Even Pakistan miraculously they won't win it
They are not even capable
 
shah9425 said:
So far they been very unimpressive
Click to expand...
I know that Pak has issues. The reason I don't want Pak to get thru is for them carrying too many passengers; especially that heavy load of anchor. However, they still can cause upsets in Colombo to any team.
 
CricVet said:
I know that Pak has issues. The reason I don't want Pak to get thru is for them carrying too many passengers; especially that heavy load of anchor. However, they still can cause upsets in Colombo to any team.
Click to expand...
This is the reason they selected wrong team for wc
 
They are just unlucky guys. You need that bit of luck and they don’t have any of that cum the knockout match in white ball cricket.
 
My name is "Allen Finn Allen" . All said and done even with Finn Allen scoring a duck NZ will have won this. This was a pathetic total here
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Pakistan fans have proved they can stop them. lol Just because they beat India they started worshipping them. Now exiting after epic walloping.
Click to expand...

Majority of people in my country remain in a constant state of shock and often utter ridiculously dumb things. You have to take our collective mental state of mind into consideration before forming an opinion on our great nation. Historical iodine deficiency in our salt also contributed to this situation.
 
Finn allen stopped them alone.... South Africa choked once again... When ever pressure situations comes where it is do or die stuff, they always die.
 
BouncerGuy said:
Finn allen stopped them alone.... South Africa choked once again... When ever pressure situations comes where it is do or die stuff, they always die.
Click to expand...
There is a discussion about it on Jarrod Kimber. This is not choking. Varun calls it bottling, not choking. Others said they are more or less the same. There is a discussion where he explains the difference between bottling and choking. Choking is losing from a winning position. Bottling is when you don't even get into a winning position. You lose the advantage right off the bat. In this case, they lost 4 wickets to McConchie and Rachin by the 8th over. 4 T20 threats going around in the world fell to ordinary spinners. Worst of all, they lost a wicket to Neesham, which in itself is a massive crime. If Henry runs through a top order or Ferguson strikes with his pace or even Santner beats you with his guile, that is understandable. That didn't happen.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
There is a discussion about it on Jarrod Kimber. This is not choking. Varun calls it bottling, not choking. Others said they are more or less the same. There is a discussion where he explains the difference between bottling and choking. Choking is losing from a winning position. Bottling is when you don't even get into a winning position. You lose the advantage right off the bat. In this case, they lost 4 wickets to McConchie and Rachin by the 8th over. 4 T20 threats going around in the world fell to ordinary spinners. Worst of all, they lost a wicket to Neesham, which in itself is a massive crime. If Henry runs through a top order or Ferguson strikes with his pace or even Santner beats you with his guile, that is understandable. That didn't happen.
Click to expand...
BouncerGuy said:
Finn allen stopped them alone.... South Africa choked once again... When ever pressure situations comes where it is do or die stuff, they always die.
Click to expand...
Choking is called when a team losse the match from winning position, South Africa was never favourite in the game after match started ..

Not sure why people's called it's a choking.

:kp
 
Devadwal said:
Choking is called when a team losse the match from winning position, South Africa was never favourite in the game after match started ..

Not sure why people's called it's a choking.

:kp
Click to expand...
OH Bhai... The whole tournament means nothing???
 
Devadwal said:
Choking is called when a team losse the match from winning position, South Africa was never favourite in the game after match started ..

Not sure why people's called it's a choking.

:kp
Click to expand...
IT is bottling as Varun describes. I agree with him. They never showed up.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
There is a discussion about it on Jarrod Kimber. This is not choking. Varun calls it bottling, not choking. That didn't happen.
Click to expand...
Loosing 2 wickets to an unknown off spinner. Miller giving 2 chances in 2 balls. Markram also got a let off. There was not any slip for Jansen against spin and his few mis hits just cleared the fielder too.It was a harakiri but nothing to do with choking.in 2014 semis,saffers played well but kohli played an amazing knock .it was a loss due to brilliance. this loss is due to pathetic batting just like India's 22 wc sf but nothing else.
 
Vikram1989 said:
Loosing 2 wickets to an unknown off spinner. Miller giving 2 chances in 2 balls. Markram also got a let off. There was not any slip for Jansen against spin and his few mis hits just cleared the fielder too.It was a harakiri but nothing to do with choking.in 2014 semis,saffers played well but kohli played an amazing knock .it was a loss due to brilliance. this loss is due to pathetic batting just like India's 22 wc sf but nothing else.
Click to expand...
Santner picked 0 wickets lol
 
Devadwal said:
NZ is not any lallu team. Both are eventually matches team. . NZ played better cricket..

This match was like india vs England 2022 semifinal.

:kp
Click to expand...
Nz has jitters during their journey to semis... South Africa was a beast from start.... You think there is no difference???

Ignorent fool
 
BouncerGuy said:
Nz has jitters during their journey to semis... South Africa was a beast from start.... You think there is no difference???

Ignorent fool
Click to expand...
South Africa was almost lost against Zimbabwe twice in a single match. South Africa played kost matches on flat pitches while NZ played on different pitches in different countries. .

Ignorant fool

:klopp :kp
 
Devadwal said:
South Africa was almost lost against Zimbabwe twice in a single match. South Africa played kost matches on flat pitches while NZ played on different pitches in different countries. .

Ignorant fool

:klopp :kp
Click to expand...
Did they lose the game???? Ignorent fool

Did they?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Devadwal
Australia Tour of South Africa (2026)
Replies
7
Views
145
Ted123
T
Ball Blazer
ICC T20 World Cup (2026): South Africa squad announced
2
Replies
80
Views
1K
sweep_shot
sweep_shot
BouncerGuy
South Africa tour of New Zealand (2026) - [5 T20Is]
Replies
5
Views
126
shah9425
shah9425
sweep_shot
West Indies tour of South Africa (2026) - 3 T20Is
Replies
15
Views
322
sweep_shot
sweep_shot
N
Can anyone stop Pakistan's spin quartet in T20 World Cup 2026?
Replies
53
Views
1K
Ball Blazer
Ball Blazer
Back
Top