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

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 Africa

It 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. 

It would have been a fairytale ending, but despite Laura Wolvaardt's (61 off 48) best efforts, the Proteas could not chase down the 157 they needed for victory. 

They were 137/6 at the end of their 20 overs. 

After 10 overs in their chase, South Africa were 52/2, needing another 105. It was not an encouraging equation, and with every dot ball that came after, the likelihood of a heartbreaking defeat grew just a little bit more. 

The crowd, though, emptied the tank. 

"We want more, we want more, we want more!" they bellowed collectively after a huge Wolvaardt six in the 11th over, when the Proteas needed more than two runs per ball. 

When Wolvaardt was eventually out LBW in the 17th over, she had carried the hopes of a nation on