Elliott on fire as NZ makes semis
Print Edition
NEW Zealand defeated South Africa by four wickets yesterday in one of the greatest World Cup matches ever played to win through to Sunday’s final as co-host Australia got ready for its last-four clash with defending champion India.
A rain-affected see-saw semifinal at Auckland’s Eden Park, eventually came down to New Zealand needing five runs to win off the last two balls.
But South Africa-born Grant Elliott, whose unbeaten 84 was a masterclass of batting under pressure, then stepped up to inflict more World Cup semifinal misery on his compatriots by smashing injured fast bowler Dale Steyn for six as New Zealand reached its revised victory target of 298 with one ball to spare.
The win meant New Zealand, which had lost all six of its previous World Cup semifinals, had at last made it through to the tournament’s climax and could look forward to taking part in Sunday’s showpiece match in Melbourne. But for South Africa, which has yet to play in a World Cup final, this was the fourth time it had fallen at the semifinal hurdle.
“At the end what a great innings from Grant Elliott,” said New Zealand captain and opener Brendon McCullum, who scored a typically aggressive 59.
“He came out of the wilderness not long ago and now just played a match-winning innings in a World Cup semifinal.”
Elliott, who turned 36 last weekend, finished the match in style to round off a superb 73-ball innings, including seven fours and three sixes.
South Africa, which won the toss and batted, overcame a shaky start to recover to 216-3 off 38 overs. But with Faf du Plessis (82) and skipper AB de Villiers (65 not out) going well, rain then stopped play.
When the match resumed after two hours, it had been reduced to a 43 overs per side clash and the Proteas had lost all momentum. David Miller’s blistering 49 off just 18 balls helped them to 281-5.
That left the Black Caps with a stiff revised victory target of 298 under the Duckworth/Lewis method.
South Africa paceman Morne Morkel and leg-spinner Imran Tahir were particularly impressive but the Proteas again came up short.
“It’s really painful,” said a distraught de Villiers. “We had opportunities and it will take us a long time to get over this.”
Tomorrow’s second semifinal at the Sydney Cricket Ground threatens to be more of an ‘away’ match for host Australia, with 70 percent of a sold-out ticket allocation taken up by India fans.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
