Missed the toss as I forgot this was being played in B’desh which is a half hour ahead of IST
Watch South Africa vs New Zealand highlights – the 2011 World Cup Quarter Final played on March 25
Scoreline: New Zealand 221/8 – Jesse Ryder 83 (121), Ross Taylor 43 (72), Kane Williamson 38 (41) | Imran Tahir 9-32-2, Steyn 10-42-2, Morkel 3
South Africa 172 all out – AB de Villiers 35 (40), Kallis 47 (75), du Plessis 36 (43) | Oram 9-1-39-4, Nathan McCullum 10-1-24-3
Sitting around watching SA fall away under the Black Caps’ dogged refusal to quit, I was wondering how this disease must have started. It’s surely a disease – not making it past a knockout stage of a World Cup (they’ve won the Champions Trophy once, though). In 1992, from what I can remember, they were on their way to a win over Eng before rain and a ridiculous D/L ruling knocked them out. Usually when you think of an ideal team scenario, it’s the experienced+young mix that’s often preferred. But maybe in SA’s case, that’s been a problem. Maybe you had older players from 1992 telling younger players about their bad luck and how that ruined the joy of being welcomed back to cricket. And with each passing defeat in each World Cup despite always looking strong contenders, the tales and negativity passed on must have gone stronger. Can’t really understand this phenomenon otherwise. The sad part is one of the best talents around, JP Duminy, has now been involved in a knocking out WC chase (the other being the 2009 T20 WC where he found scoring difficult). On the bright side, Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers seemed to have taken it quite well (Steyn, the champion he is, was even smiling while shaking hands).
I know Kallis has a lot of fans, but this is one of the reasons I’ve always not been one of them. It’s rare that he has been a game breaker or game setupper. He’s kind of more the SA Wall. If he were out of form like Smith it would be ok. But against Eng, Ind and today, when the situation pleaded for his abilities and experience, he decided to suddenly be positive. And all this, while the brilliance that is AB, was at the other end.
oh NEW ZEALAND..oh my precious KIWIS.oh my sweet PAVALOVAS..what have you done..??amazing win backed up even more by some brilliant fielding,fought and scraped for every run.This is the ultimate for a fan who supports a very ordinary team,a team which is capable of beating any team on their day but not consistent enough..
Lost 10 of the 12 games they played in the subcontinent,given absolutely no chance of reaching the knockout stages.Is there anything greater than proving the critics wrong.and now we are in the top 4..brilliant..!apperance number 6 in the semi final stages ,if there was a trophy for consistency then i guess we would have won by now.
Amazing man hugs at the end and a very emotional nathan mucculum.good to see a man cry at times.well done lads..!btw south africa didn’t choke.we beat them fair and square..!
what did say yesterday to you lol…the chokers are gonna choke, hehe.
I’ve seen Daniel Vettori play over 271 odi matches for New Zealand but i’ve never seen him sledge or talk back to the batsmen, gets hit for a 6 goes back and bowls again.As a kiwi it’s one of the few things we are proud of and at kid level or high school level kids all over New Zealand are taught to respect their oppponents,but boy did he have a fair bit to say when when Fad du pless ran out de villiers, joined in by Mills and Taylor and the whole team.
The commentators got it wrong,du pless wasn’t sledged beacuse he ran out de villiers but what he had to say about the NZ team during the week..As a professional you do not make comments like that unless you are a veteran or a player of high calibre ..not a rookie..My rugby coach used to say never give a dog a reason to fight in a dogfight..thanks Faf..you sure got us fired up.
I’m so proud of the boys.we actaully sledged…and won..!and international cricketers read cricinfo..
haha. loved your opening line in the 1st comment. That alone should get more joining your black caps group
what did he have to say about NZ – any links
http://sportifi.com/news/Cricket-Du-Plessis-plays-down-Kiwi-threat-990540.html
Hi Admin! There are two Black Caps groups. Can you fuse them together?
have contacted the other group mod. will do something about this
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/story/507410.html
This is what du pless had to say about New Zealand during the week leading up to the game..If a senior pro like Kallis or Graeme Smith would have said it then it would have been fine.I’m sure NZ wouldn’t have been too worried about his comments as well, but at a crucial time he ran out Ab De Villiers and that just sparked something.bit of pushing and shoving,all handbag stuff ..Never seen my guys so fired up.i got goosebumps..
Btw, Admin the site feels slow…I’m assuming lot of traffic.
lol can we call this an upset?? SA clearly the best side in this tournament.
Absolutely…some might say otherwise tho lol that we saw the choking from half a mile away
I’m a big Kiwi fan by heart ever since I started watching cricket and love their attitude towards the game. I admire the respect they show to the game of cricket (unlike teams like AUS or SA who are constantly sledging and rude in general) – win or lose. I believe in you are how you behave, so manners go a long way.
I must say, I was very disappointed at the half time and thought to myself, here we go again – NZ is going to choke again and it is over. It was a nail biter for me and I was so happy the see them come back; especially they way they came back was amazing. It is an incredible feat for a nation of 4.2 million population and I’m very proud of them. Go NZ go!
Awesome match to watch, but I can’t help feel sorry for SA. They’re such a formidable team but yet bad luck seems to follow them around all too much.
Well done to NZ, let’s see how they hold out against Sri Lanka. They’ve already lost once to SL in the group stage, but let’s see if they can pull out a surprise win this time around where it all matters.
Felt bizzare to see Kiwis sledging. Aussies in Black, haha!!! But I understand their anger towards Faf’s comments. But Kyle Mills having a go isn’t justified and he was rightly fined. That aside, a brilliant fielding performance shown today. The kiwis are light-years ahead of other semi-finalists in fielding. They have to continue to use it to their advantage…… and unlike England, they have to play spin ! Hope tomorrow’s game isn’t one-sided.