Bangladesh, June 23 -- The wheels normally come off for South Africa near the end of the Cricket World Cup. This one's been broken from the start.

South Africa is heading for another World Cup failure, but not like previous campaigns where the four-time semifinalist careered off track with the finish line in sight and earned some sympathy for its efforts.

This time, South Africa is bumbling toward early elimination. Players of the caliber of Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla and captain Faf du Plessis are possibly leaving for one-day international retirement with a bitter final taste of the World Cup. Actually, bitter is all they've ever tasted at the World Cup.

"I can't speak of past World Cups but certainly in this World Cup it seems like guys...