South Africa coach Conrad says New Zealand defeat was a 'walloping' not a 'choke'

[p]The 2024 runners-up went into the ‌match as the only unbeaten team in this year's tournament, whose seven wins in a row ‌included a seven-wicket thrashing of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/G6PWlrQB/"]New Zealand[/a] in a group match.[/p][p]New ‌Zealand, however, turned the tables in spectacular fashion with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/allen-finn/WUFfwo8t/"]Finn Allen[/a] smashing an ‌unbeaten 33-ball hundred to secure their nine-wicket romp with more than seven ‌overs to spare.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/tUhlKzIm/"]South Africa[/a] have never advanced beyond the semi-finals in the 50-over World Cup and Conrad anticipated that the 'choker' label would resurface.[/p][embed guid="2d98032a-b2bb-4090-ae6f-75b0dd98cd4d" url="https://x.com/ProteasMenCSA/status/2029234999656919471?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"Tonight was not a choke. I ‌thought it was a bloody walloping," [/b]Conrad told reporters ⁠managing to retain his sense of ‌humour.[/p][p][b]"In order for you to choke, you must have had a sniff in ​the game. We didn't have a sniff."[/b][/p][p][b]"Tonight we got a proper 'snotklap'," [/b]he said before explaining the meaning of the Afrikaans word - [b]"a real ​hiding".[/b][/p][p][b]"So I think there'll be enough people that are going to be jumping on the bandwagon. But, yeah, we also did so many special ⁠things. I'm so proud of ​all these guys.[/b][/p][p][b]"I don't think many people gave us much of a chance of even getting into a semi-final when we left the shores given our form before that but that's no consolation."[/b][/p][embed guid="d8950d7f-56f0-4f3e-b3fd-8eddfea7b159" url="https://x.com/ProteasMenCSA/status/2029233262837612899?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Conrad felt New Zealand put themselves ‌in the box seat when they restricted South Africa's explosive batting lineup to a modest 169-8.[/p][p][b]"They gave us absolutely nothing, and they really squeezed particularly well. Their spinners were exceptional in those conditions.[/b][/p][p][b]"Obviously it would have been a nice toss to win, but that's no excuse. We didn't post anything close to what would have been competitive."[/b][/p][embed guid="93514d84-1dee-4ce1-bdbe-1614bde4bdd0" url="https://x.com/ProteasMenCSA/status/2029223730161791017?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Player-of-the-match Allen said New Zealand's bowlers set up their win and heaped praise on his opening partner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/seifert-tim/YTiWO6ug/"]Tim Seifert[/a], who combined with him in a decisive opening stand of 117.[/p][p][b]"Timmy ‌started off really strongly, and he looked to get on top of ​their bowlers early, which then made it easy for me to settle ‌into my innings," [/b]Allen said.[/p][p][b]"For me, I just looked to play almost a support role to Tim. If it was in my area, I'd try and hit it for four or six, and if it wasn't, just get a single and get him on strike.[/b][/p][p][b]"He ⁠just kept dealing in boundaries, which he's ⁠been doing all tournament. He's ‌in incredible form, he's an incredible player."[/b][/p]