It was not choking, it was a bloody walloping: South Africa coach on loss against New Zealand

KOLKATA: Only a few months ago South African coach Shukri Conrad came under spotlight after he said they wanted hosts India to grovel on Day 4 of the second Test in Guwahati. The 58-year-old former first-class player took it to another level when questioned about South Africa's hammering against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semifinal here at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

While replying to a query related to 'choking tendency' of the Proteas in the World Cup knockouts, he told reporters during the post-match press conference, "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. In South Africa, we say we'd get moered. Tonight, we got a proper snotklapped, also a South African word meaning a real hiding. So I think there'll be enough people that are going to be jumping on the bandwagon."

Chasing a below-par 170, New Zealand openers - Tim Seifert and Finn Allen - got their team off to a flying start accumulating 84 runs in the powerplay. Seifert was castled by Kagiso Rabada on 58 off 33 balls but Allen remained unbeaten on a 33-ball 100 completing his century and team's win with a four of the last ball of the 13th over. It also turned out to be the fastest century in the men's T20 World Cup.

Conrad, however, said they did quite a few special things and he is proud of his players. "I don't think many people gave us much of a chance of even getting into a semifinal when we left the shores, given our form before that. But that's no consolation or anything like that."

The South African coach said it would have been a nice thing had they won the toss but admitted that the Kiwis exploited the conditions better employing their spinners up front due to which Aiden Markram and Co never got out of the blocks.

He, albeit in a subtle manner, said playing all matches in Ahmedabad and not at other venues also led to the result. "Yeah, we chose a really crappy time to have a bad night. But yeah, look, there's obviously a lot to be said about playing all our games at Ahmedabad and then not having played anything in some of the other states. But again, that's no excuse. We – yeah, they strangled us up front, lost wickets, didn't get any sort of momentum going. And yeah, a hell of a lot didn't go right tonight but that was probably enforced because they were so good and they never gave us a sniff."

Ever since South Africa, who were the only unbeaten side in the tournament till Wednesday, were asked to bat, nothing went in their favour as they kept losing wickets and failed to contain New Zealand openers when they came out to chase. Conrad said in the shortest format the time for recovery is short. "You get on a little bit of a downward spiral, and it doesn't go your way, and then you've got to try and claw it back. And then, yeah, Stubble probably getting out at the wrong time, just when we sort of built some momentum and then that last over, I thought we were particularly poor in the way we managed that last over, where Marco was flaying it from the one side, stood there watching other guys get out. So all in all, not very good."

The last edition runners-up were in a spot of bother against holders India in their Super Eights match as well but they recovered well to hand the co-hosts a big defeat. The coach said it has nothing to do with the occasion and their opponents were really good on the day. He also said the defeat will hurt the players and the whole team badly. "I don't know. Hopefully we've got a carrier to pick us up to take us home. But, look, I mean, the guys will be hurting and they obviously are. But, there's not a hell of a lot you get judged on World Cups and winning it I thought we did some exceptional stuff throughout the tournament. Played some really good cricket and like I said My opening gamut was We chose a really crappy time to have a poor night and I stick by that. The other guys will be hurting but I think they will also realize that we weren't good enough tonight."

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