Heroic Proteas fall short at packed Newlands final, SA's World Cup wait continues

26.02.2023 - 19:19 news24.com

The wait continues. South Africa's heroic women fell on the wrong side of history at an electric Newlands on Sunday, losing a thrilling T20 World Cup final to the powerhouse Australians by 19 runs. SCORECARD | World Cup final: Australia v South AfricaIt was always going to be a tough ask against a side that has now competed in seven straight T20 World Cup finals, winning six of them, but the Proteas fought with all they had from start to finish.

It was not the result they or the 14 000 crammed into this iconic cricket venue wanted, but this group had already achieved something that no other South African team - men or women, T20 or 50-overs - could before.

This was the first time the Proteas had ever contested an ICC World Cup final, and there was a real belief that they could pull off the improbable.

Nobody had backed them in their semi-final against England two days before, but the momentum had gathered since then, and that was largely down to the South African cricket public that fully bought in.

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