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'Meek Surrender': Dinesh Karthik Drops Truth Bomb On South Africa’s 'Annihilated' Defeat

Poulomi Chakraborty

Dinesh Karthik Slams The Proteas After Semifinal Exit (Source: @imkevin149/x.com, @Spidey17Rp/x.com)Dinesh Karthik Slams The Proteas After Semifinal Exit (Source: @imkevin149/x.com, @Spidey17Rp/x.com)

Each and every encounter of the ongoing Champions Trophy is exciting as the teams cross swords with all intensity. After the intense group stage, New Zealand and South Africa locked horns at the high-voltage, but the Proteas left the big stage with heartbreak.

After a crushing semifinal exit, South Africa faced heavy backlash for failing to put up a fight. Adding to this, former Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik also slammed them for their poor show.

Dinesh Karthik On South Africa’s Poor Display

South Africa’s big-stage struggles continued as they suffered a heartbreaking 50-run defeat against New Zealand in the second semifinal. After bowling failure, their struggle went bigger as Miller’s explosive innings couldn’t save the match. After the defeat, Dinesh Karthik weighed in on their disappointing performance.

“I want to state it on record. New Zealand annihilated South Africa; it was as simple as that. They were not in the game. I thought South Africa would get close and put pressure on them.” Karthik said.


“That’s what you expected from South Africa. This is a meek surrender. They were not in the game so early. You can’t turn up to a semifinal feeling happy to be there. Play like a champion team,” he added.

Pointing At The Chasing Strategy

While chasing the massive 363-run target, their challenge becomes deeper. The top order’s failure added immense pressure on the lower order. Despite David Miller’s heroic century, the comeback came too late. Following the defeat, Dinesh Karthik called out their shortcomings.

“You can always back yourself to get 90 in the last ten in the back end, or 85. But you cannot have 140. Even in T20, it is hardly done. With fewer wickets in hand and a slightly older ball, it is next to impossible,” he said.

South Africa's struggles in high-pressure ICC events are well-documented. Their failure at the ICC events is a massive thing. In the ICC ODI tournament's knockout stages, they faced 9 defeats in 11 matches. The Proteas ended another ICC event with a heartbreak.