We seem to be passing an infectious disease from generation to generation. It really started in the 99 WC with the Gibbs early toss and the Donald debacle. Since then it has been passed on through subsequent WCs. And it has now infected the younger generation yet again....Rossouw and de Kock will be carrying scars from those hectic last 8 overs.
New Zealand by contrast seemed to have new belief, lifted by the talismanic leadership of McCullum......sometimes wrong, but never uncertain. The man dominated the match.
We have had many great players in the last 20 years....Donald, Pollock, Kallis, Amla, Steyn ....AB. But no great leader who made the team more than the sum of it's parts. No dominating personality that could calm the jitters.
In the sixties after some dismal series against Oz and England Eddie Barlow came along to lift South African cricket....partly by his skill as a player, but more by his indomitable personality. We badly need a new Eddie Barlow.