In 1992, we were harshly dealt with in a rain-affected World Cup semifinal that saw us go from a winning position to needing 22 runs off 1 ball. Columnist Gasant Abarder had never recovered from that scar and a choke in a subsequent semifinal against the Aussies later in life. So, he was happy to be proved wrong when the Proteas reached the holy grail of cricket over the last few days.
When I saw the Proteas were in the final of the ICC Test Championship, I had that familiar sinking feeling of eating a peanut butter sandwich without having coffee to wash it down. It's the choke we're all so familiar with when it comes to this particular national side.
At the end of Day 2 of the 5-day encounter against the old foe, the Aussies, at Lord's, I didn't want to be right, but it looked like our boys were intent on disappointing us once again. We were trailing after our fast bowling ace Kagiso Rabada had pegged the Aussies back for a below-par first innings score. Our batters let us down in our first innings, and the men from Down Under we love to hate were on top with what looked like a winning position.
On the morning of Day 3, I had serious doubts that we could even draw the match, but then Rabada and co again did the business. But these battle-hardened Aussies play far more Test cricket than the Proteas and were able to post a decent score. They're involved in a regular 5-match series against England in the Ashes series and at best the Proteas play a 3-match series. Last year, we played embarrassingly little Test cricket. But more about this later.
The Proteas went on to beat the Australians in four days at a canter with telling contributions by leaders in the team like Aiden Markram and Captain Temba Bavuma. I'm particularly pleased for Bavuma. He has been roundly criticised by all and sundry about his height yes, really, intent, captaincy, technique - just about anything that can be thrown at him. And quietly too, his role has been questioned because of his skin colour. But when it mattered most, the diminutive figure, with the courage of a lion, outsmarted and outmanoeuvred his more experienced opposition, Captain Pat Cummins.