The National's Sport cover for the Thursday, March 19 issue, featuring Imran Tahir and South Africa after their first knockout win at the Cricket World Cup.
Osman Samiuddin writes the oft-snakebitten side finally showed their mettle at a World Cup.
“For many years, South Africa tried walking the walk but failed. Big, aggressive, bullying players most days, they were regularly devoured by stage fright on the big occasion.”
But on Wednesday, in the quarter-final, South Africa’s attack decimated Sri Lanka, and they cruised to their target total without so much as a hiccup.
“Could it be? Could it finally be? Could this be the year for South Africa?”
It will become clearer in the semi-finals, where they play the red-hot hosts New Zealand or West Indies.
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