South Africa once again failed on big occasion as they were crushed by the West Indies by 100 runs in a performance described as ‘horrible’ by Proteas captain AB de Villiers.
South Africa needed to win the final group match to qualify for the final, against Australia in Barbados on Sunday, but they were blown away by the Windies’ bowlers. They were dismissed for just 185 after the hosts had posted 285 all out.
“There is obviously a lot of disappointment,” a glum De Villiers said after the game.
“It’s difficult to put a smile on your face after a horrible performance like that. We had such a great start. We had a lot of energy in the first 10 overs and we were really on top of them and unfortunately couldn’t make another breakthrough after that… What’s going through my mind is a lot of disappointment,” he said.
“Our preparation was really good, our coaches have been unbelievable. Russell Domingo put us through our paces like never before… but the batters kept collapsing and we didn’t build partnerships and that comes down to individuals not stepping up. There were too many individuals in this series who didn’t stand up and that’s what happened,” he explained.
De Villiers admitted that coach Domingo could come under some pressure after the poor performance in the Caribbean but he said that, ultimately, the players had to shoulder the blame and not the coach.
“He (Domingo) has played a big role in all of our careers in the last four years. I feel he has done a fantastic job. It’s sad to see him under pressure. It’s definitely not the coaching staff. There is no doubt in my mind that they are the best in the world. Unfortunately, as players, we let them down in this series,” he concluded.