The South African 'Semi-Final' Curse! 💔

How South Africa started off on their ‘Semi-Final’ Curse Today!

Jinxed? 💔

17th June 1999

#memoriesfromdiaries

[This day, 25 years ago]

On 17th June 1999, cricket buffs across the world were witness to a thrilling, nail-biting and high-sensational match in World Cup history.

The match between South Africa and Australia ended in a draw, with the two sides levelled at 213 each. 

However Australia were able to seal a seat for themselves in the finals owing to better run rate! 

[Source: ANI]

It was from this particular day onwards, that the South African Proteas had earned themselves the jinxed tag of ‘Cricket World Cup Chokers’.

On an aside, the Proteas have always been one of the best teams in cricketing history. However, the dismal tidings that they have not been able to get past the semi-final stage of any of the World Cups so far, vouches to the fact that, the team has always failed in pressure situations, giving them the ‘Chokers’ tag!

Even earlier, in the 1992 World Cup semi-final, [South Africa's first since their return to cricket], the Proteas (South African Team) ran out of luck in the World Cup semifinal, after rain interruption played spoilsport.

In the 2003 World Cup, they had lost a must-win game, that they had played against Sri Lanka!

In the 2007 World Cup semi-final, the Proteas who were in a commanding position, lost the crucial game.

In the 2011 World Cup, semi-final, the Proteas lost to the Kiwis in their crucial must-win match!

In the 2015 World Cup semi-final, owing to miserable fielding by the South African side, the Kiwis chased a mammoth 298 in just 43 overs and won the match, leading to a disastrous loss for South Africa.

In the 2019 World Cup deciding match, Pakistan had a 49-run win at Lord’s, eliminating South Africa from advancing to the final stages.

In the World Cup 2023, South Africans watched in shock, as their cricketers were crumbling at the hustings, and finally lost the match to Australia.  

Will the Proteans wipe off the ‘choker’ moniker and become Titans of the Game ever?

Well, the answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind!

And yes, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel! 😊

Moving on now, to the personal side –

Well, I’ve always loved having parrots as pets during our childhood days. And so, during my college days, as I was in the hostel, I very badly missed our parrot ‘Polly’ back at home.

And so to compensate for the missing Polly, and having got leads from our friends, we went to a particular area in the city, where parrots were sold and got a parrot for Rs. 45/- and named him ‘Polly’ too, 😊 and well, Polly, gave us all, hostelers such joyous company during all of our hostel years! 😊

PS: Dear readers, please do not try having a native parrot as a pet! This was a quarter-century ago, when many youngsters back then, like me, were quite ignorant of the legal provisions concerning parrots as pets!

Most of the native ‘Indian bird species’ are illegal as pets in India.

The Wildlife Protection Act says that no one can keep wild birds that are ‘native to India’ as pets.

Anyone taking care of such birds must either hand them over to the forest department or release them in forests, lakes, and parks.

However, exotic birds such as budgerigars and cockatoos are allowed to be kept as pets. It is common for people to keep parrots as pets but this is illegal, as is keeping mynas and finches that are trapped from the wild and sold in markets.

Source on Pet birds: https://petfather.medium.com/list-of-birds-legally-allowed-in-india-2021-petfather-c4c4ac2e717a