ICC World Cup 2015: Not just a win, a historic event and a morale booster

Imran Tahir came to the party against Sri Lanka helping SA register their first knockout win

AB de Villiers and South Africa can now afford few smiles; friendly banters and dinner time jokes. It would have been like overcoming a devil with themselves: The win against Sri Lanka in the first quarterfinal of the global event is the first for the Protean side and it took some time coming.

Since 1992, when South Africa first took part in the biggest cricketing tournament, they have made it to the knockouts five times before this edition and have infamously never won a single game. For a side that was never short of world class match winners, it was almost like a curse that never had a solution. 

High flowing veins, adrenaline rush, improper execution of plans, bad luck, not to forget some very logical relationship with mathematics(!), South Africa were like a Formula1 car, falling short on fuel towards the end.

But it all changed at Sydney this time around, nearly 23 years since South Africa were asked to score 22 off 1 one legal delivery after a rain delay in the same venue. 

de Villiers tried in vain to play down his pre-match tension in the post-match presentation, but one can easily recall his reaction at the time of the toss and the way he spoke about the team changes. It was almost like he was struggling to breath. Such was his body language at the toss.

Having said that, something should've inspired the side to pull off this convincing, ruthless display. It could've been Mike Horn or one among the huge support staff they have. The attitude they sported right from ball one gained instant momentum with the young wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock latching on to a difficult catch in front of the first slip.

I will say Sri Lanka went into brain freeze by unnecessarily altering their batting line-up, pushing Lahiru Thirimanne down the order. Kumar Sangakkara played too conservatively and Imran Tahir had one hell of a day. However, much credit should be given to the South Africans for clinching the win and losing the monkey off their back. 

More importantly the bowling spearhead Dale Steyn was back to his best and Quinton de Kock returned to form with a stellar knock. It looks like they have found all the pieces of the jigsaw to make the complete picture and are raring to go. 

With either one among New Zealand and West Indies as semi-final opponents, both equally poor in the knockouts like the African side, it will come down to the fact how many players from one side are able to keep their mind in a conscious state.

At this moment, considering the fact that South Africa were able to beat the rain too, watch out, just two more matches and they might loot home the cup.

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