CENTURION, SOUTH AFRICA – SEPTEMBER 27: Graeme Smith the South African captain has a word with Andrew Strauss of England after being refused a runner during the ICC Champions Trophy group B match betweenSouth Africa and England at Centurion on September 27, 2009 in Centurion, South Africa. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)
Graeme Smith 141 vs England in 2009 – Despite playing in home conditions, South Africa had a poor run in Champions Trophy 2009 as they could just win one league stage game out of three and failed to qualify for the second round.
A win against New Zealand, a century from Graeme Smith in a losing cause against England and Wayne Parnell emerging as highest wicket-taker in the tournament were the only takeaways for them.
Smith’s innings came when Proteas were chasing a huge target of 324. Skipper stayed at the crease till 47th over but could not get the job done as the home side fell short by a margin of 22 runs to lose the game. He could not see his team getting past winning total and South Africa crashed out of the tournament from league stage.