Dale Steyn and Quinton de Kock help South Africa, for once, walk the talk

'Could it finally be? Could this be the year for South Africa?' asks Osman Samiuddin, as the Proteas at last overcame past failures and won a knockout match at the Cricket World Cup on Wednesday.

South Africa's Dale Steyn reacts during his side's win over Sri Lanka on Wednesday at the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Sydney. Rick Rycroft / AP / March 18, 2015

Could it be? Could it finally be? Could this be the year for South Africa? The good news is that they have, at the sixth time of asking, won a knockout game at the Cricket World Cup.

The better news is the way they approached the game. For many years, South Africa tried walking the walk but failed. Big, aggressive, bullying players most days, they were regularly devoured by stage fright on the big occasion.

Most infamously it happened in the 2007 World Cup semi-final against Australia, as much a non-contest as this one.

In the lead-up to Sydney, a lot of similar noises were being made. South Africa were the best side in the tournament captain AB de Villiers said, though having said they were not as good as they thought only days earlier, it somewhat killed the impact.

Then, the day before the game, De Villiers talked even bigger. “All I can say is we’re not going to choke,” he said. “We’re just going to play a good game of cricket tomorrow and come out on top. Simple.”

Had he been getting ready to skydive, he still would not have been setting himself up for as big a fall as those words were doing. Especially if their actual build-up in the group stages was taken into account: scary good against weaker sides, scary weak against good sides.

But finally, in a knock-out game, they did exactly as they said they would, as they have always promised. It was as if all the bad of five previous knockouts had accumulated and turned into one outstanding performance. Almost certainly, it was exactly as they planned. They played good cricket and did come out top. Simple, really.

The intensity De Villiers and South Africa wanted, the tone they wanted to set – that come what may, South Africa will not let up – came from Dale Steyn.

He may not be getting the return of wickets a bowler of his quality should, but the rhythm and, in particular, that inner, slightly insane fast bowling demon inside him, is back.

He cranked up the pace, which is always a good sign, but he was so constrictive with his length and line that he choked the life out of Sri Lanka’s start. There was just nothing to hit. And forget runs, survival was tough enough.

It gets better too. The two on-field issues that hampered them most so far came good, at least for the day. Rarely does a chase of 134 cause sides to panic in modern ODIs but even then, Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 78 was worth something. It is a reflection of just how abysmal his run had been before this, just 53 runs in six matches.

The other was the lack of a viable fifth bowler. JP Duminy snaffling a hat-trick is far beyond anything De Villiers would even have dared to dream about. But as productive as Duminy was – and coming on with a side already under serious pressure helps – it is an issue that could come back and bite them, especially now that the pressure will only increase.

It was a sad way to say farewell to Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. But when the goodbyes are done, Sri Lanka might well ask whether they were too cute in disrupting their side by pushing Lahiru Thirimanne two spots down, and introducing, at this late stage, a debutant mystery spinner. The latter change hardly mattered; the former did.

There is, alas, a bit of bad news for South Africa. Having finally broken their jinx, they still have two more knockout games to negotiate.

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