Proteas Fall Short in Champions Trophy, But Coach Rob Walter Eyes 2027 World Cup Glory

South Africa crashed out of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday after suffering a 50-run loss to New Zealand who progressed. 

South Africa's limited-overs coach, Rob Walter, emphasised that his side had a bad day at the office. 

Carrying the underdog tag 

Going into the ICC Champions trophy, very few gave South Africa the chance to progress past the group stages.

After all, South Africa was grouped with former World Champions in Australia and England, alongside a budding Afghanistan One Day International side, the very same side that had beaten South Africa in an ODI series prior to the start of the Champions trophy.

However, captain Temba Bavuma led his team to the semi-final where they were met with a strong Kiwi side. 

That would be the end of the Proteas campaign as they were handed a 50-run defeat by the Blackcaps, after a number of poor returns by the South Africans in the final.

From a bowling point of view, the Proteas attack seemed to have run out of ideas as Kane Williamson (102) and Rachin Ravindra (108) piled on the runs.

Even after bowling the WIlliamson and Ravindra out, the South African bowlers leaked 111 runs in the last ten overs, helping the Kiwis put on a match-winning 326 runs.

With the bat, there were just not enough partnerships. Apart from Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen's century stand for the second wicket, there wasn't much to speak about despite David Miller's unbeaten century in the end.

In another semi-final, the proteas just had a bad day.

"It was just a bad day to have a bad day today," South Africa's limited-overs coach told the media post the loss.

"People referred to our pool as the pool of death because of the strength of the competition in it. We saw Afghanistan beat England and play exceptionally well."

"We did what we had to do in the pool rounds, won convincingly well and played seriously good cricket."

South Africa's next opportunity to glory in the 50-over format will come in the form of the 2027 ODI World Cup which they will host.

Walter is confident that his team is evolving and that they have their sights on the home World Cup.

The 49-year-old emphasised that his batters have shown growth in the Champions Trophy, making significant partnerships while his bowling unit improved their accuracy, a feat that bodes them well for a home World Cup.

"In the (group stage) wins, we managed to put significant partnerships together. We had guys contributing significantly with the bat," Walter told SportsBoom.co.za. 

"From the bowling point of view, our biggest development was our accuracy. We were able to be very accurate as a seam unit and that's something we've been working really hard on."

"Every game we play is a learning opportunity and we keep taking lessons. Today is a hard lesson and you feel it a little bit more because it's the end of the campaign."

"We are still evolving as a team, there's no doubt in my mind. Two and a half years to 2027 and our eyes are on the prize."