Best team to not win the World Cup - South Africa, 1999

Two batsmen in the top-ten run-getters list, two bowlers in the leading wicket-takers tally, the Man of the tournament and one of the most respected captains going around in the world at that time. South Africa had everything going for them in the 1999 World Cup in England.

The pace duo of Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock was arguably the best new-ball pair of that generation. Conditions in England suited their style of play as well. In Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener, they had two all-rounders who could possibly walk into any playing eleven of that World Cup. Hansie Cronje and Bob Woolmer had been widely acknowledged as the shrewdest tacticians in the game. Their experiment with the ear-piece being a case in point. Despite possessing all the ingredients to be crowned as the best in the world, South Africa still could not cross the all-important finishing line and came up short in the knock-out stages yet again.

Their team composition ticked all the boxes required for a world beating team. That they still did not cross the finishing line was a disappointment in itself to their supporters and most neutrals. The manner in which they crashed out was even more heart-breaking.

But before that not many doubted South Africa's credentials and neither did their performance suggest anything less. They won all their group matches except against Zimbabwe who managed a shock upset. They had come up trumps against better teams like Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India and England. Australia stopped them on their tracks thanks to Steve Waugh's hundred in the Super Six game but even that was seen as just an aberration. Had Herschelle Gibbs held onto a crucial catch then things could have panned out quite differently.

Lance Klusener had won four Man of the Match perforances going into the semi-final. Jacques Kallis had won two. Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Gibbs had made vital contributions throughout as well. If South Africa held their nerve, they were looking certain favourites.

Klusener's reputation as a finisher of the innings had grown exponentially in the World Cup. Everything suggested that South Africa would be crowned champions unless they shot themselves in the foot. Destiny is a cruel goddess. Winning doesn't come easy... even to the best. Ask Klusener. After leading South Africa's charge right through the World Cup, he found himself morphing into a villain when the stakes were highest.

What could have happened if Gibbs had not dropped Waugh? What could have happened if Klusener and Donald did hold their nerve in that semi-final? A team filled with match-winners was left pondering these what-ifs instead of celebrating on the podium. If ever there was a chance for South Africa to be the best in the world, then 1999 was certainly it. An opportunity slipped and what a costly miss it has proven to be!