Mark Boucher: Worst defeat of my coaching career

South African players wear a dejected look as The Netherlands celebrate their win at Adelaide yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

The outgoing Mark Boucher on Sunday 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 The Netherlands to make the last four. But their bowling let them down as the Dutch posted a challenging 158-4 and restricted their fancied opponents to 145-8 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.

Also read: T20 World Cup: Netherlands stun South Africa by 13 runs; India secure semifinal berth

"Feel 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. Asked if the Netherlands defeat was the worst of all results, Boucher said: "Probably as a coach, yes."

"It is quite frustrating because as a player you can at least still have a say in the game. As a coach, you're sort of left to leave it up to other individuals to go out there and try and perform. Yeah, certainly as a coach, yeah, it's up there."

Hard one to swallow: Bavuma after defeat

South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said the ouster from the T20 World Cup was "hard one to swallow" as the Proteas choked in yet another ICC tournament here on Sunday. "Hard one to swallow. We had the confidence and belief in ourselves as a unit to make the play-offs," a disappointed Bavuma said at the post-match presentation. Boasting a fiery pace attack, South Africa just needed to beat minnows The Netherlands to make the cut. "Unfortunately for us, we couldn't do it," he added.

Brief scores
The Netherlands 158-4 in 20 overs (C Ackermann 41', S Myburgh 37, T Cooper 35; K Maharaj 2-27) beat SA 145-8 in 20 overs (R Rossouw 25; B Glover 3-9, F Klaassen 2-20, Bas de Leede 2-25) by 13 runs

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