Proteas Men's coach Shukri Conrad.
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Proteas coach Shukri Conrad held no punches after his team’s “bloody walloping” in the ICC T20 World Cup semi-final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
New Zealand inflicted a nine-wicket thrashing on the Proteas with the Black Caps cruising into Sunday’s final with 47 balls to spare.
Conrad’s team had entered the semi-finals with a perfect seven-match unbeaten record, and even the coach himself admitted they were favourites to reach a second successive T20 World Cup final.
But the Kiwis had other plans with the bowling unit restricting the Proteas to a total well below par before openers Finn Allen struck the fastest T20 World Cup century, eclipsing West Indian great Chris Gayle’s 47-ball effort, in just 33 balls. Fellow opener Tim Seifert also blasted 58 off the exact number of balls.
Due to the Proteas’ major tournament semi-final history, the inevitable ‘choking’ tag was once again being thrown around, but Conrad was having none of it.
“I don't know if tonight was a choke. I thought it was a bloody walloping. We got our arses kicked. I think in order for you to choke, you must have had a sniff in the game. We didn't have a sniff,” he said.
“In South Africa, we say we'd get moered. Tonight, we got a proper snot klapped, also a South African word meaning a real hiding.”
Conrad admitted the team will be “hurting” after the defeat, but while its scant consolation in a competition where success is only measured by returning home with the trophy, he remained upbeat that the Proteas had given a good account of themselves up to the critical semi-final juncture.
“The guys will be hurting and they obviously are. But, there's not a hell of a lot you get judged on World Cups than winning it,” he said.
“I thought we did some exceptional stuff throughout the tournament. Played some really good cricket and like I said my opening gambit was we chose a really crappy time to have a poor night and I stick by that.
“The guys will be hurting but I think they will also realize that we weren't good enough tonight.
“But yeah, we did so many special things. I'm so proud of these guys. I don't think many people gave us much of a chance of even getting into a semi-final when we left the shores, given our form before that.
"But that's no consolation or anything like that. Look, I mean, I think it's cue the abuse now. I think there'll be enough people that are going to be jumping on the bandwagon. There'll be enough of it.”