The Cricket World Cup is almost upon with the tournament getting underway on Thursday.
The Proteas only play their first match on Saturday, so for now Zaahier Adams will refresh your World Cup memories ahead of the 2023 edition.
Meyrick Pringle 4/11 v West Indies, Christchurch, 1992
After their dreamy start to their first-ever Cricket World Cup with a victory over co-hosts Australia at the SCG, the Proteas lost consecutive matches to New Zealand and Sri Lanka and faced a virtual must-win clash against the juggernaut West Indies. After only managing 200/8 with the bat, Kepler Wessells’ team required a brilliant start with the ball. It was provided by Western Province’s Pringle with the mullet-haired swing-bowler claiming the big wickets of Brian Lara, Richie Richardson, Carl Hooper and Keith Arthurton to reduce the mighty Windies to 19/4.
Shaun Pollock 5/36 v Australia, Edgbaston, 1999 (SF)
In the chaos that ultimately transpired on that fateful day in Birmingham, there has been a tendency to overlook arguably the best spell of fast bowling by a Protea in a World Cup knockout match. It deserved to be a match-winning spell, but we all know how the semi-final eventually played out. Pollock provided the perfect start in picking up Mark Waugh in the first over of the match before delivering a masterclass in the middle and death overs.
Dale Steyn 5/50 v India, Nagpur 2011
Hosts India were in a rampant mood, in particular Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, and had stormed to 267/1 in just 39.3 overs and were targeting a total close to 400. But Steyn roared back for the Proteas and delivered a brilliant spell at the death causing a massive Indian collapse that saw the eventual champions lose their last nine wickets for just 29 runs. It set up a thriller that saw the Proteas edge home off the final ball of the chase.
JP Duminy hat-trick v Sri Lanka, SCG, 2015 (QF)
The most unlikeliest of heroes with the ball for the Proteas provided the foundation for the country’s first-ever Cricket World Cup knockout victory. Part-time off-spin bowler Duminy ripped the heart out of Sri Lanka’s middle-order with a historic hat-trick. Duminy’s victims were Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara and Tharindu Kaushal. It has also to be mentioned that fellow spinner Imran Tahir claimed a crucial 4/26 in the same match as the Proteas out spun Sri Lanka in Sydney.
Andrew Hall 5/18 v England, Barbados, 2007
The Proteas were under pressure heading into the all-important clash at Kensington Oval and had made the big decision to drop Makhaya Ntini for the irrepressible Hall. A victim of an aborted mugging that lodged a bullet in his left hand, Hall was the man for a crisis. He responded with a reverse-swinging masterclass as he got the old white ball to hoop into the stumps that helped dismiss an England side, which included Kevin Pietersen, for just 154. Captain Graeme Smith comfortably led the chase as the Proteas romped by nine wickets to get their World Cup campaign back on track.
@ZaahierAdams