Kirsten Himself Accepts That S A Team Are Chokers....

June 20, 2013

In his final act as South Africa coach, [url="http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/player/45813.html"]Gary Kirsten[/url] did not shy away from the team's uncomfortable history of failing at pressure stages in major events, accepting they "choked" against England, a term he called "horrible", and that it does not reflect well on his time as coach.
The word has been associated with South Africa since the 1999 World Cup when they fell at the semi-final stage in an agonising tie [url="http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/65233.html"]against Australia[/url]. It was the same hurdle that proved too much this time as they were [url="http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-champions-trophy-2013/content/story/643365.html"]thrashed by seven wickets[/url] at The Oval, having crashed to 80 for 8 on their way to 175.

"I think we did choke in the game," Kirsten said. "It's an uncomfortable word but you've got to make yourself comfortable with it. It's a horrible word, it does get used, we've spoken about it, we are open about it.
"We let ourselves down. You've got to accept that's what it is. They bowled exceptionally well but that doesn't mean your batting line-up should be 80 for 8.