3.21 PM Thursday, 28 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:57 06:11 12:27 15:53 18:37 19:51
28 March 2024

New Zealand storm into maiden World Cup final

Published
By Cricket Correspondent and Agencies

Johannesburg-born Grant Elliott's 84 not out, capped with a stunning six off the penultimate ball, saw New Zealand to a four-wicket win over South Africa in a cliffhanger World Cup semi-final at Auckland's Eden Park on Tuesday.

Elliott's winning six, off injured South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn, took New Zealand into the World Cup final for the first time and they will play the winner of Thursday's second semi, between Australia and India in Sydney, in Sunday's showpiece match in Melbourne.

New Zealand faced a revised target of 298 under the Duckworth/Lewis method after South Africa made 281 for five in 43 overs.

Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum made a typically quickfire 59 off 26 balls at the head of the innings.

Then came a valuable 103-run partnership between Elliott and Corey Anderson and New Zealand appeared to have the game in hand with six overs to go.

But Morne Morkel regained the initiative for South Africa by taking a wicket and conceding only one run in the 38th over and by the start of the 43rd - and final - over New Zealand required 12 to win.

They started with a bye, a single, a four to Daniel Vettori, another bye and then Elliott smacked Steyn high into the stands as New Zealand, after losing all six of their previous World Cup semi-finals, completed a thrilling win.

South Africa have now failed to win all four World Cup semi-finals they have contested.

The Proteas were also undone by two squandered run-out attempts and an embarrassing collision between JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien which resulted in a dropped catch from Elliott off the last ball of the 42nd over.

"These boys, I am so proud of them. A lesser team would have laid down today," said McCullum, who propelled his team to 71-0 after just five overs.

South Africa skipper AB de Villiers was distraught at defeat.

"It's really painful. We had opportunities and it will take us a long time to get over this," he said.

As McCullum flung his bat at the start of New Zealand's run chase, de Villiers was forced to take three of his frontline bowlers out of the attack.

Vernon Philander, replacing Kyle Abbott in the side, gave up 14 runs to McCullum with his first over and was immediately replaced by Morkel.

Morkel also lasted one over that cost 14 runs but came back from the other end after Steyn himself was taken out when McCullum hit two sixes and three fours off his third over.

The return of fast bowler Morkel paid immediate dividends. He undid McCullum who plopped a simple catch into the hands of Steyn at mid-on and in his next over he bowled Kane Williamson.

Martin Guptill, looking to back up his World Cup record 237 not out against the West Indies in the quarter-final, made 34 before being run out in a mid-pitch mix-up with Ross Taylor.

Taylor was soon caught behind and New Zealand were 149 for four when Elliott and Anderson set the foundation for a victory push before the latter was out for 58.

Earlier, De Villiers had set South Africa up for a big finish only to be denied seven overs when rain swept in when they were 216 for three in the 38th over.

He produced a rapid 65 not out and, following the two-hour rain break, David Miller's boundary-laden 49 from 18 deliveries got South Africa up to 281 for five. Faf du Plessis top-scored with a patient 82.

Luck was with South Africa when they won the toss, elected to bat and gained early momentum when edges raced to the short boundaries.

New Zealand wicket-keeper Luke Ronchi dropped Quinton de Kock on six and Trent Boult missed a difficult chance to catch Hashim Amla.

But left-arm paceman Boult, the tournament's leading bowler with 21 wickets, added to his tally by dismissing Amla and de Kock on his way to figures of two for 53.

Scoreboard (match reduced to 43 overs a side):

South Africa


H. Amla b Boult 10
Q. de Kock c Southee b Boult 14
F. du Plessis c Ronchi b Anderson 82
R. Rossouw c Guptill b Anderson 39
AB de Villiers not out 65
D. Miller c Ronchi b Anderson 49
JP Duminy not out 8
Extras (b1, w13) 14
Total (5 wkts, 43 overs) 281
Did not bat: D. Steyn, V. Philander, M. Morkel, I. Tahir
Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Amla), 2-31 (de Kock), 3-144 (Rossouw), 4-217 (du Plessis), 5-272 (Miller)
Bowling: Southee 9-1-55-0 (w1), Boult 9-0-53-2, Henry 8-2-40-0 (w1), Vettori 9-0-46-0 (w2), Williamson 1-0-5-0, Elliott 1-0-9-0, Anderson 6-0-72-3 (w5)

New Zealand (victory target 298 in 43 overs under Duckworth Lewis system):

M. Guptill run out (Amla/de Kock) 34
B. McCullum c Steyn b Morkel 59
K. Williamson b Morkel 6
R. Taylor c de Kock b Duminy 30
G. Elliott not out 84
C Anderson c du Plessis b Morkel 58
L. Ronchi c Rossouw b Steyn 8
D. Vettori not out 7
Extras (b6, lb2, w5) 13
Total (six wkts, 42.5 overs) 299
Did not bat: T. Southee, T. Boult, M. Henry
Fall of wickets: 1-71 (McCullum), 2-81 (Williamson), 3-128 (Guptill), 4-149 (Taylor), 5-252 (Anderson), 6-269 (Ronchi)
Bowling: Steyn 8.5-0-76-1 (w1), Philander 8-0-52-0, Morkel 9-0-59-3 (w1), Tahir 9-1-40-0 (w1), Duminy 5-0-43-1 (w2), de Villiers 3-0-21-0

Toss: South Africa
Result: New Zealand won by four wickets
Man of the match: Grant Elliott (NZL)

Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), Ian Gould (ENG)
TV umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

 


Toss

Pace bowler Matt Henry has jumped from first-class cricket to a World Cup semi-final, named in New Zealand's team to play South Africa at Eden Park on Tuesday.

Henry, who was a late replacement for fast bowler Adam Milne on Monday, will get early use of the ball after South Africa captain AB de Villiers won the toss and elected to bat.

Henry's inclusion has already been likened to that of former All Blacks flyhalf Stephen Donald, who kicked the winning penalty in the 2011 rugby World Cup after being summoned from a fishing trip when an injury crisis struck the New Zealand team.

"We've drafted Matt Henry into the squad and he comes straight in, in place of Adam Milne. He's a wicket-taking option and we wanted him in as that third seamer," McCullum said in a pitchside interview.

"It was a really tough choice but we thought go with Matt's extra pace and the aggressive option."

South Africa named their first choice side with Vernon Philander coming back from a hamstring injury and replacing Kyle Abbott.

New Zealand's largest city was drenched by rain that fell overnight and into the early part of the morning but it cleared by around 11 a.m. local time (2200 GMT) and the Eden Park ground staff had removed the covers from the wicket area.

While not quite the frenzy that accompanied the All Blacks' rugby World Cup campaign four years ago, the match has dominated media coverage in the last 48 hours, while business and schools were closing early so people could watch the game on television.

Teams:

New Zealand
- Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (captain), Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Trent Boult

South Africa
- Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (captain), Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir

Preview

New Zealand and South Africa clash in the World Cup semi-finals at Auckland's Eden Park on Tuesday hoping to end years of pain and near-misses.

Both sides, who between them have appeared in nine semi-finals without reaching the final, have met expectations by making the last four.

Lying in wait will be the winner of Thursday's second semi-final in Sydney between India, defending the title they won in 2011, and Australia, who lifted the three preceding World Cups.

 

Follow us on Twitter @E247Sports for exclusive coverage of all the action from Down Under

New Zealand have lost all six of their previous World Cup semi-finals, with South Africa falling at the same hurdle on three occasions.

But New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said he did not expect either side to be weighed down by past failures.

"I don't think there's any baggage with anyone," he insisted. "It's a one-off game and we're all desperate to be at the big party and I'm sure we'll both turn up.

"Two sides are playing good cricket and it's going to be a heck of a show."

Their one common opponent in the tournament has been the West Indies, who South Africa clobbered in pool play by 257 runs after batting first and posting 408 for five.

New Zealand beat the West Indies by 143 runs in a Wellington quarter-final on Saturday after scoring 393 for six on the back of Martin Guptill's World Cup record 237 not out.

South Africa emerged from their quarter-final against Sri Lanka with an overwhelming nine-wicket victory as they moved to dispel talk they are 'chokers'.

Afterwards, defiant Proteas skipper AB de Villiers said: "I think we like being called chokers. We'll just keep that tag and move along, as long as we keep winning."

And the star batsman was adamant that, whatever else happened, his side would not crack under pressure.

"We are committed to the fact that we're not going to show any weakness," he said.

Proteas leg-spinner Imran Tahir's four for 26 against Sri Lanka should raise a red flag for New Zealand's talismanic opener and captain Brendon McCullum, whose swash-buckling reputation carries a postscript that he is vulnerable to leggies.

'Match-hardened'


When New Zealand and South Africa met in a pre-tournament hit out, Trent Boult took five for 51 in a 134-run win over a Proteas side without key figures Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn.

South Africa won an one-day international series 2-0 against New Zealand without Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor late last year, and Hesson said that result was further skewed by South Africa being in full flight while New Zealand were just gearing up for the season.

"In September and October the pitches are different, we'd come out of a winter, they'd come out of a campaign," said Hesson. "They hit us hard early and we didn't respond well. We're more match-hardened now."

It was the start of a build-up that has seen New Zealand hit form at the right time with wins in their past nine games - they have never won 10 in a row - while South Africa were beaten by Pakistan in World Cup pool play.

Their crunch showdown takes place at Eden Park, whose drop-in pitch and short boundaries ought to favour batsmen, but where results show the 300 mark has been bettered only six times in ODIs.

Between them, New Zealand and South Africa provide half of the top 10 bowlers at this World Cup.

Boult is the leading wicket-taker with 19 and is joined by fellow Kiwis Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee with 15 scalps, the same as Tahir, while South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel has 14.

Guptill, coming into form with back-to-back centuries is the second-highest run scorer with 498, with de Villiers in fourth place, a further 81 runs further back.

Although the bookmakers have South Africa as favourites, New Zealand have come out on top the last three times the teams have clashed at a World Cup.

However, the Black Caps were handed a setback on Monday when fast bowler Adam Milne was ruled out of the tournament with a left heel injury.

Late call-up Matt Henry will duel with seasoned international Kyle Mills and Mitchell McClenaghan to take Milne's place.

Ten match facts:

- South Africa have won one and lost seven of the nine semi-finals they have played in all one-day international tournaments. The other was a tie, against Australia at the 1999 World Cup
- a result that saw them eliminated on lower Super Six table placing.

- This will be the seventh World Cup meeting between these sides with the Black Caps having won four of the previous six encounters. The only one of these that was a knockout match however was New Zealand's win at the quarter-final stage at Dhaka in 2011.

- Daniel Vettori needs one more wicket to become New Zealand's leading wicket taker in World Cup history; he is currently tied with Jacob Oram on 36.

- South Africa have won three of their last four completed ODIs against New Zealand at Eden Park.

- The Black Caps have lost the toss in the last 12 ODIs they have played at Eden Park and have been put into bat on nine of these occasions, winning just one of these nine (L5, T1, 2x N/R).

- Seven players have hit three consecutive ODI centuries before, if Martin Guptill hits a ton in this match he will be the third Black Caps player to do so.

- Two more runs will see Guptill become the first Kiwi to score 500+ runs in a single World Cup, Scott Styris hit 499 in 2007. He would become the eighth player from any nation to achieve the feat.

- Brendon McCullum has the highest boundaries per ball faced rate (34%) at this tournament.

- Imran Tahir has bowled more balls (404) than any other player at this tournament; he and Vettori are the joint top wicket taking spinners (both 15).

- Farhaan Behardien has scored 74 runs off the 36 balls he has faced in the tournament; he has the lowest dot ball percentage of any player (11.1%).

- Kane Williamson has scored 53 runs from 51 balls bowled by Morne Morkel in ODIs, never having been dismissed by the South African seamer.