Cricket World Cup History: 5 times South Africa choked at the World Cup 

#2 2011 World Cup quarterfinal (vs New Zealand)

South Africa succumbed to the pressure

The Graeme Smith-led South African team had finished on top of Group B at the end of the league phase of the 2011 edition, having won five out of the six group stage matches. In the quarterfinals, they were set to face off against New Zealand.

After restricting New Zealand to 221 courtesy of a fine display of bowling from Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, South Africa found themselves in a comfortable position at 108/2 after 24 overs with two set batsmen in Kallis and AB De Villiers at the crease.

Kallis was dismissed by Southee and was followed by JP Duminy. The same over, a horrible mix-up between Faf Du Plessis and AB de Villiers, led to the latter being run-out in a disastrous fashion.

The Kiwi spinners then continued to strangle the batsmen, and South Africa lost their last eight wickets for just 64 runs as they were bundled out for just 172. Cruising at one stage of the run chase, the Proteas ended up losing by a significant margin.