Cricket World Cup 2019: South Africa's seven other tournament exits since 1992

A look at how the Proteas have dropped the ball in World Cup after Cricket World Cup since their first appearance in 1992

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  1992 World Cup, semi-finals: South Africa won the toss in Sydney and opted to field first. England posted 252-6 in 45 overs in a rain-affected match, with the Proteas needing 22 off 13 balls to reach the final. By the time play resumed after a rain delay, however, they were given an impossible target of 22 to chase off one delivery. Allsport

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  1996 World Cup, quarter-finals: South Africa arrived in Karachi after having won all their group matches, while, West Indies had muddled through their group games. But the Proteas came across an inspired Brian Lara, who scored 111 from 94 balls, to help them set the South Africans 265 to chase. Hansie Cronje's side managed just 245, leaving the ICC to decide on a Super Six format in the next World Cup in order to reduce the likelihood of an upset. Mike Hewitt / Allsport

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  1999 World Cup, semi-finals: Perhaps the greatest one-day international ever to be played, this is a match South Africa should have won. Needing just 214 to beat Australia at Edgbaston, the Proteas had a collapse at the start of the innings before making a remarkable recovery to come close to victory. Lance Klusener led the late innings onslaught, but a moment of confusion between him and Allan Donald led to the latter being run out and the match ending in a tie. Australia progressed on a technicality. Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images

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  2003 World Cup, group match: Another rain-affected game, another chase, another 'tie'. Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first in Durban, with qualification for the Super Sixes almost certain. They scored 268 but as South Africa's chase was interrupted by rain, which meant their target was revised to 230 by the Duckworth/Lewis method. But the Proteas ended up making 229, assuming - wrongly - a tie could be enough to make it to the next round. Their early exit was embarrassing given it happened on home turf, and Shaun Pollock was dismissed as captain. Shaun Botterill / Getty Images

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  2007 World Cup, semi-finals: Another semi-final against Australia, this time the Proteas were well and truly outplayed in Gros Islet. They won the toss and elected to bat only to be bowled out for a paltry 149, ripped apart by Shaun Tait. Australia knocked off the runs required in just 31.3 overs as Michael Clarke scored a brilliant, unbeaten half-century. Hamish Blair / Getty Images

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  2011 World Cup, quarter-finals: New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first, scoring a competitive 221-8 in Dhaka. South Africa had bowled well but they once again fluffed their lines chasing. They were eventually bowled out for 172 with no player reaching a fifty for Proteas. As in the past, it took an inspired performance to derail South Africa's train. Jacob Oram took four wickets, but his catch off Tim Southee's bowling to dismiss Jacques Kallis was possibly game-changing. Lee Warren / Getty Images

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  2015 World Cup, semi-finals. For once, South Africa got the batting right after winning the toss. Or did they? Faf du Plessis and captain AB de Villiers scored half-centuries as the Proteas posted 299-6 on the board. In response, New Zealand kept the asking rate well within control even as they lost wickets at regular intervals during the chase. Captain Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson scored half-centuries, but it was Grant Elliott (84 not out), a South African now playing for the Black Caps, whose batting underpinned their successful chase. Marty Melville / AFP

On Sunday, South Africa's Cricket World Cup title hopes came to an end at the eighth time of asking.

Defeat to Pakistan at Lord's meant they cannot mathematically qualify for the semi-finals from the 10-team round-robin phase. This also translated to yet another missed opportunity to win cricket's showpiece event since first appearing in it 27 years ago.

The Proteas played their first World Cup in 1992 after being re-inducted into the cricket community two years earlier (they spent nearly three decades in the sporting wilderness as punishment for the crimes of the now-defunct Apartheid regime).

Since then, two themes have remained constant as far as the team's fortunes are concerned, one being consistency and the other being bad luck. They made it to the semi-finals in 1992, 1999, 2007 and 2015. They would almost certainly have reached the last four in 1996 if not for a brilliant century from Brian Lara in the quarters.

But, you make your own luck in tournaments such as these, and let's be honest, South Africa have not helped their own cause in at least two editions: in 1999, when they lost to Australia twice on the bounce despite having no right to do so, and in 2003, when they got their Duckworth/Lewis calculation wrong costing them a place in the knockouts.

The one word often used to describe the South African cricketers, perhaps fairly, is "chokers". A choker is defined as "a sports player who fails to perform at a crucial point as a result of nervousness".

Granted, the Proteas were not fancied to win the 2019 World Cup even before the tournament got under way. There were also mitigating circumstances, such as injuries to fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Lungi Ngidi. But they have always had enough talent to garner expectations from their supporters, and it is fair to say they underperformed by even their current standards (read not great).

Jog your memory on previous South African anticlimaxes at the World Cup by scrolling through the photo gallery above. To move on to the next position, click the arrows on the photo, or if using a mobile device simply swipe.