London — Outbatted. Outbowled. Outfielded. Outcaptained. Out-thought. Outplayed. Outdone. Out of the Champions Trophy. India beat the Proteas‚ officially by eight wickets but in reality in every which way‚ in their last group game at The Oval on Sunday. Winning was non-negotiable for SA if they were to reach the semifinals. Instead‚ they played their worst cricket and suffered their 19th nervous breakdown in the 20 International Cricket Council tournaments since readmission in 1991. SA’s fading exception to their usual showing on a stage of this size was the 1998 Wills International Cup‚ the precursor to the Champions Trophy‚ which they won. Kagiso Rabada was three years old on that happy day. Imran Tahir‚ the old man of the side at 38‚ was a sprightly 19 and had played only 47 of the 743 games of cricket of all shades that he has graced since he was a teenager. It really was that long ago‚ and performances like Sunday’s will only push SA’s sole success further into the memory. Ahea...
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