The South African Cricket Team, commonly known as the Proteas lost their opening match against Sri Lanka in the ICC Champions Trophy tournament yesterday. The match was played at Supersport Park, Centurion in Gauteng. The Proteas had to reach the target of 320 runs (set by Sri Lanka). When the first summer rains of the region stopped play, the Proteas had only managed to reach 206 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. The Duckworth Lewis system was applied and South Africa lost the match by 55 runs. It seems that the Proteas “choked” again. Why is it that we always play our worst cricket when it comes to International tournaments like this one and the Cricket World Cup? Once again a South African sports team has put itself under pressure. Some of my friends have stopped watching cricket for this reason. The Proteas have to win their 2 upcoming games (against New Zealand and England) to reach the semi finals of the ICC Champions Trophy. Let’s hope that this was a once off “choke” and that South Africa live up to their current #1 World Ranking.

Related Posts

• September 2, 2009 -- ICC Champions Trophy 2009 around the corner (0)
• November 17, 2009 -- France teach Springboks a lesson (0)
• November 16, 2009 -- Proteas have mixed results against England (0)
• November 13, 2009 -- Springboks to take on France tonight (0)
• September 25, 2009 -- South Africa bounce back in ICC Champions Trophy (0)
• September 14, 2009 -- Springboks clinch 3rd Tri-Nations victory (0)
• September 2, 2009 -- Springboks make history in Tri-Nations (0)
• January 21, 2010 -- Super 14 Fixtures for 2010 (1)
• January 18, 2010 -- Proteas pull one back against England (0)
• December 7, 2009 -- World Cup 2010: Groups (0)

The ICC Champions Trophy is a One Day International cricket tournament, second in importance only to the Cricket World Cup. The tournament was inaugurated as the ICC Knock Out tournament in 1998. Since then it has been played every 2 years. The tournament underwent a name change in 2002 and is known as the Champions Trophy since then. Previous ICC Champions Trophy competitions have been hosted by Bangladesh (in 1998), Kenya (in 2000), Sri Lanka (in 2002), England (in 2004), India (in 2006). Pakistan was supposed to be the host country for the competition in 2008. Security constraints led to the tournament being postponed to October 2009. Security concerns by some participating countries has led to the tournament venue being changed to South Africa. The ICC Champions Trophy will be held in South Africa from the 22nd of September until the 5th of October 2009. 2 venues will be used in the ICC Champions Trophy, the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg and Supersport Park in Centurion. The world’s top 8 nations in cricket will compete in the ICC Champions Trophy. The nations will be split up into 2 groups of 4 nations. Group A will be made up out of Australia, India, Pakistan and the West Indies. Group B will be made up out of South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England.

Here’s a list of fixtures for the ICC Champions Trophy:

• 22 Sept 2009 – Centurion – South Africa vs Sri Lanka – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 23 Sept 2009 – The Wanderers - Pakistan vs West Indies – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 24 Sept 2009 – Centurion – South Africa vs New Zealand – 09h30 – Day
• 25 Sept 2009 – The Wanderers – England vs Sri Lanka – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 26 Sept 2009 – The Wanderers – West Indies vs Australia – 09h30 – Day
• 26 Sept 2009 – Centurion - India vs Pakistan – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 27 Sept 2009 – The Wanderers – New Zealand vs Sri Lanka – 09h30 – Day
• 27 Sept 2009 – Centurion – South Africa v England – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 28 Sept 2009 – Centurion - Australia vs India – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 29 Sept 2009 – The Wanderers – England vs New Zealand – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 30 Sept 2009 – The Wanderers – India vs West Indies – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 30 Sept 2009 – Centurion – Australia vs Pakistan – 09h30 – Day
• 2 Oct 2009 – The Wanderers – A1 vs B2 – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 3 Oct 2009 – Centurion – B1 v A2 – 14h30 – Day / Night
• 5 Oct 2009 – Centurion – Final – Day / Night

South Africa have only won the ICC Champions Trophy once, in 1998 in Bangladesh. The Proteas are very determined to add this year’s trophy to their collection. The South African Cricket Team have failed to be victorious in the last 5 Cricket World Cups and the last 2 T20 World Cups. Hopefully this year the Proteas can add the ICC Champions Trophy (nicknamed the mini World Cup) to their collection. Guess I’ll have to look for some tickets for sale and go check out the ICC Champions Trophy. Let’s hope the Proteas make South Africa proud.

Related Links:
Mickey: Proteas Want The Trophy – Sport24
Arthur: We’re the best – Sky Sports
The new team to beat – Mail & Guardian
SA Cricket – Official Website
Cricket – Supersport

Related Posts

• September 2, 2009 -- Springboks make history in Tri-Nations (0)
• January 21, 2010 -- Super 14 Fixtures for 2010 (1)
• November 16, 2009 -- Proteas have mixed results against England (0)
• October 6, 2009 -- Australia win 2009 ICC Champions Trophy (0)
• September 25, 2009 -- South Africa bounce back in ICC Champions Trophy (0)
• September 23, 2009 -- Sri Lanka crush Proteas in ICC Champions Trophy (0)
• September 14, 2009 -- Springboks clinch 3rd Tri-Nations victory (0)
• September 7, 2009 -- Wallabies bring Springboks down to earth in Brisbane (0)
• January 18, 2010 -- Proteas pull one back against England (0)
• November 17, 2009 -- France teach Springboks a lesson (0)