ICC Twenty20 World Cup | Shocking defeat against Netherlands was worst of my tenure, says Mark Boucher

South African bowling let them down as the Dutch posted a challenging 158 for four and restricted their fancied opponents

The outgoing Mark Boucher on November 6, 2022 described South Africa's shocking defeat by the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup as the worst of his tenure as coach, the result leading to another heartbreaking exit for the perennial chokers.

Having done in by rain in their Super 12 opener against Zimbabwe, the Proteas climbed up to the top of Group 2 with wins over Bangladesh and India. They needed to beat minnows Netherlands to make the last four.

But their bowling let them down as the Dutch posted a challenging 158 for four and restricted their fancied opponents to 145 for eight for a famous 13-run win.

"When we woke up, if you look at the way that we started the game, our energies were low. Whether that's because it's a half-past 10 game, times have been quite difficult, I don't know, I haven't really put my finger on it," Boucher said when asked what went wrong.

It was yet another early World Cup exit for South Africa who have never managed to make the final in either ODI or T20 format.

"Feels gutted, to be honest. As I said, I think this squad deserved to give themselves a better chance, and yeah, unfortunately it didn't happen for us, which is very disappointing for me and certainly every single guy who's in our dressing room at the moment," said the former South Africa wicketkeeper-batter.

It all began on their international return at the 1992 ODI World Cup, when they were done in by a farcical rain rule. Needing 22 from 13 balls in the semifinal against England, the equation post rain became 21 from one delivery.