South Africa, despite invariably showing magnificent form in the early rounds, have never won a knockout game at the World Cup. Nothing less than a win over in-form Australia on Thursday will dispel the belief that when the going gets tough, the Proteas end up choking.

South African cricket loyalists have never let facts stand in the way of their indignation, and the ‘choker’ narrative has become an interesting bit of revisionist history, believe it or not. Ask most local fans about their team’s record at World Cups and you'll hear that the Proteas have ‘always’ let them down when it mattered most. A mournful Lance Klusener on his haunches at Edgbaston and a completely shattered AB de Villiers in Auckland make for some of the most poignant pictures of South Africa's World Cup semi-final heartbreaks.