Fans sympathize with South Africa after yet another case of 'so near yet so far'

South Africa Women suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the defending champions Australia in the second semi-final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday. The Proteas seemed to be in the driver's seat during the innings break when it had started raining heavily. This is because the Dane Van Niekerk-led side had won all their group matches while Australia had lost the tournament opener against India as a result of which their final group game against New Zealand turned out to be a virtual quarterfinal. 

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Fans sympathize with the South African team

Unlike the first semi-final between India and England, the rain did not play a spoilsport in this one as the Aussies held their nerves in a rain-curtailed contest to come out on top. After the loss, the South African team, as well as skipper Van Niekerk, could not control their emotions after yet another instance of so near yet so far. The Proteas women had lost a close semi-final against the eventual winners England in ICC Women's World Cup 2017. Meanwhile, the fans came forward and sympathized with the South African players after their ouster.

While one fan congratulated them for coming this far, there were many fans who spoke about how rain manages to spoil South Africa's chances during an important stage of a multi-nation tournament. Here are some of the reactions.

The rain has played a spoilsport and has cost the South African men's team on a few occasions during the ICC events. It had cut short their tournament in the 1992, 2003 and 2015 editions of the World Cup. 

Australia hold their nerve

After being asked to bat first, Australia got to a respectable total of 134/5 in their 20 overs riding on skipper Meg Lanning's unbeaten run-a-ball 49. In reply, chasing a revised target of 98 in 13 overs, the South African batters did offer a lot of resistance but failed to gather momentum due to the steep asking rate and in the end, they fell short as Australia sealed a narrow 5-run win (DLS) method. Megan Schutt was the pick of the bowlers for Australia with figures of 2/17 in her three overs at an economy rate of 5.67.

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