NEW DELHI: South Africa fans claimed their national anthem was “butchered” when it was cut short at the start of the World Cup match against West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Thursday.

Only half of the stirring anthem was played before the sound was abruptly halted, much to the consternation of the smattering of fans inside the stadium.

“As if the World Cup has not been boring enough, now our national anthem gets butchered. Another failure,” wrote one fan on Twitter.

Another said: “...messed up our national anthem at the start of the match...so who's to blame?”

One other tweeter praised the team, led by bemused skipper Graeme Smith, for bravely attempting to complete the anthem by themselves without the musical support.

“We assume it's a technical error, but well done to the boys and supporters at the venue for finishing our national anthem,” said one fan.

The International Cricket Council has apologised to South Africa after the scratchy recording of the national anthem stopped abruptly during the pre-match formalities, claiming that a technical fault caused it to end halfway through.

The ICC also said it realized the anthem recording was "of a poor quality" and will ensure "a better quality version is used for all matches going forward."

The New Delhi ground hasn't hosted an international match since late 2009, when an ODI was abandoned for an unplayable pitch.