South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad had a humorous take on the ‘chokers’ tag that was often attributed to his side following their exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup T20 at the semi-final stage. South Africa were beaten by New Zealand by nine wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday 4 March, ending their seven-match unbeaten run in the tournament.
After yet another knockout defeat in the ICC tournament, Conrad was asked for his reaction to the ‘chokers’ tag attached to the Proteas. However, the head coach responded flippantly, stating that the team needed to be in the competition to choke – while his team was comprehensively beaten by New Zealand.
SA vs NZ T20 World Cup Semi Final: Highlights | Scorecard
“I don’t know if it was a choke tonight. I thought it was a good snorkel. If you want to call it a choke, you have to at least have a sniff of the game – and we didn’t. In South Africa, we’d say we got beaten. We got a real ‘snorkel’ tonight, which is another South African term for a real post-match hide,” Conrad said.
South Africa have seemingly shaken off the ‘chokers’ label by winning the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at Lord’s. However, they failed again on the big stage, losing to New Zealand in the semi-finals.
Conrad also pointed out that many did not expect his team to even reach the semi-finals and insisted that criticism is part and parcel of elite sport.
“I’m sure a lot of people will jump on the bandwagon and there will be criticism. But we did a lot of special things in this tournament and I’m incredibly proud of these guys. Few people, given our form before the competition, would not have given us a chance to even get to the semi-finals when we left home. That’s no consolation now, of course. There will be a lot of criticism, but it’s probably part of the game.
How did South Africa collapse in the semi-finals?
After being put into bat, South Africa labored to 169/8 in their allotted 20 overs as Cole McConchie (2/9), Rachin Ravindra (2/29) and Matt Henry (2/34) dismantled their batting line-up. Only Marco Jansen (55* off 30) stood firm against the Kiwi bowling attack, hitting two fours and five sixes during his innings.
In response, New Zealand made a mockery of the chase and reached the target in just 12.5 overs, with Finn Allen making a record 33-ball century. Tim Seifert (58 off 33) and Allen (100* off 33) effectively decided the match during the power over as they shared a massive partnership of 117 runs off just 55 balls.
While Seifert was dismissed for 58, Allen went on to register the fastest century in T20 World Cup history. As a result, New Zealand have qualified for their second T20 World Cup final and will take on the winner of the second semi-final between India and England in a spectacular encounter on March 8 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
05 March 2026 02:00 IST
