Will the South Africans choke? Or will the Pakistanis self-destruct? In the first semi-final of the World Twenty20 championships here, two teams will take on not just each other, but also the weight of their own respective histories.

South Africa’s tendency to chuck it all away, with predictable regularity, is inexplicable and well-documented. In the 1999 World Cup semi-final, they lost when they needed one run off four deliveries. In 2003, playing at home, they misread the Duckworth-Lewis chart and failed to make the semis. When it comes to the crunch, they have a habit of pushing the panic button.

Will this time be any different?

“There’s a different feeling with this team,” said Mark Boucher, who was at the centre of the madness that their 2003 exit was. In a rain-curtailed match, the Duckworth-Lewis chart had listed their ‘par score’ as 229.

The men in the middle assumed that was the revised target and so, Boucher defended Muralitharan back to the bowler when actually the team needed another single to win.

No longer chokers?

He’s put that behind him though as, he hopes, have the team. “We’ve been through a lot of tests last year, and we’ve come through with flying colours. We’ve handled pressure pretty well. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come for us in the latter stages of this tournament. Hopefully, this time we can go the whole way,” said Boucher.

Coach Mickey Arthur was on the same page. “It’s a different set of players, different management. We could get beaten, and once again the chokers tag may surface. For us, that’s not an issue as long as we are playing to the best of our ability, as long as we’re not panicking in crucial situations. We’re not scared of losing. Mentally our guys are very strong now.”

... contd.