New Zealand vs South Africa, 1st Semi-Final at Auckland, Mar 24 2015, ICC Cricket World Cup

RESULT
1st Semi-Final (D/N), Auckland, March 24, 2015, ICC Cricket World Cup
(43/43 ov) 281/5
(42.5/43 ov, T:298) 299/6

New Zealand won by 4 wickets (with 1 ball remaining) (D/L method)

Player Of The Match
84* (73)
grant-elliott
Match centre 
Scores: M Venkat Raghav | Comms: Sidharth Monga
Scorecard summary
South Africa 281/5(43 overs)
2/53 (9)
New Zealand 299/6(42.5 overs)
84* (73)
3/59 (9)
1/76 (8.5)

11.25pm Oh what a night. We will never forget it. Boult's swing at the top of the innings, du Plessis' absorption of all New Zealand could throw at him, Williamson dropping de Villiers, de Villiers and Miller exploding in the end, the rain, the readjusted target, McCullum making mockery of some of the best and most fearsome fast bowlers of the world, Morkel bringing South Africa back bowling with heart and menace, New Zealand losing wickets to nerves, Anderson and Elliott bringing them back, de Viliiers missing a run-out, spidercam nearly costing South Africa a wicket, de Kock missing a run-out, Steyn diving with a dodgy leg to save three runs in the penultimate over, Vettori squeezing out a yorker for four in the final, Elliott ending it with a six, the tears of Morkel, the roar of Elliott, what would this World Cup be without this match?

Cold-blooded analyses will question the selection of Philander; it will question New Zealand's running, their fielding; we will look back ruefully at missed run-out. Equally we must cherish the execution of skills under such immense pressure. In the end the better team won, they shook hands, they hugged each other, nobody abused the other, and we can be thankful for that. Let's just keep in mind that Elliott was the first man to go up to the vanquished Steyn and lift him off the pitch. It has been an absolute pleasure to bring this game to you. This is Sidharth Monga saying goodbye

11.20pm What rousing speeches from both captains. Yes, AB, your country can still be proud of you. Yes, Brendon, your country - and fans of your cricket all over the world - are dreaming as much as you are

Pawan: "This is what cricket is all about. No sledging, mind games or silly altercations. Just skill, passion and humility in defeat. Hold your heads high de Villiers and Mccullum. Your boys have given us a true spectacle of the game."

Russell: "Very emotional for South Africa, they gave their best and lost in the last moment. In a game like this, both teams are winners - painful words from AB to end it, and congratulations to NZ."

11.10pm "I can promise you. I took this walk back in 1992. It felt a lot different," says Ian Smith of the return of the team into the sheds. I hear ya, Ian

"Pretty amazing," says Brendon McCullum. "South Africa gave as good as they got all day. Great advertisement for cricket. Everybody involved will remember this for the rest of their lives. Keep raining is what I thought when AB was going. Two very destructive batsmen. The way we kept giving it in the field, the way we bowled, we did good. Even with the bat. We wanted to hang in till the end. What a great innings from Grant. Came out of wilderness not long ago. We had to generate some sort of run-rate early, that is what we tried to go. Credit to South Africa the way they played tonight and throughout the tournament. The greatest time of our lives. We have enjoyed the experience. The crowds that have turned, the brand of cricket we have tried to play. Hope the crowds are all dreaming the way we are. gee it would be nice to win it. We don't mind whom we face in the final. They are both quality sides, but we know if we play the way we want to we are a good chance. Really proud to represent New Zealand."

"Amazing game of cricket," says AB de Villiers. "Probably the most electric crowd I have ever heard in my life. I guess the best team has come out on top. We gave it our best. No regrets. We left it all out there. It is hurting. It is going to take a while to recover. Worst of all is we don't play for ourselves. The bigger picture is for the people back home. We play for them. I hope they can still be proud of us. There have been great performances. I felt we had a wonderful thing going. Had a great feeling. Don't want to single out any performance. To the teams in the final, all the best."

11pm Finally a beauty at the World Cup. Such raw emption after such a great show of skill, audacity, humanly mistakes. Joy, sadness. Smiles, tears. Roars of ecstasy, roars of anguish. We have seen it all tonight. After six agonising semi-finals, New Zealand have finally made it to a World Cup final. Martin Crowe will rest easy now. Dion Nash will rest easy. His is the lesser stories exit after his side had looked exceptional in 1999. I remember talking to him about it in 2009. He sat there for hours inside the dressing room, in an absolutely filthy mood. They can all rejoice today

And for South Africa, the wait continues. It is a cruel sport

"It's great," says Grant Elliott, the Man of the Match. "I don't think this win is for myself or the team, but everyone here. The supporters have been amazing. We wanted to take it as deep as we could [The crowd is not letting him talk]. I think we timed the pace of the innings to perfection. Not as calm as I looked. When you have 45000 fans screaming at you every ball... It has been an absolute pleasure playing in front of this crowd. We have had a good run. It is the first final we have been in as New Zealand. We are a very level team, we will approach it as any other game. Nothing going in my mind when I hit the six. I don't even know where the ball went."

**

What a finish. Elliott has shown nerves of steel. South Africans are on the ground. Morkel, who gave it his all with the ball. Du Plessis, who weathered the storm with the bat, and ran every ball down in the field. They are weeping. Even Steyn. What emotion. Jubilation for New Zealand. Fireworks in the air. Tears at the ground. Sport at its best. Two immensely likeable teams. They have left it all on the field of play. Elliott you beauty. Came into the side at the last moment. Has held his nerve to win it for them. The ghost of 1992 lays exorcised in front of 45000 people. Fireworks in the rest of Auckland too

42.5
6
Steyn to Elliott, SIX runs

no he doesn't. He hits this over long-on for six. Lets out an almighty roar. All 45000 roar with him. Steyn has bowled length. Why length at this time? Surely you would expect a yorker or a bouncer. Elliott - South African by birth - goes deep into the crease, and lofts this over wide long-on for surely the most important hit he has ever hit in his life. Why would you bowl length, Dale?

Down to five off two. A boundary takes them home. Does Elliott think he has two balls to hit one boundary and turn down the single if it arises?

42.4
1b
Steyn to Vettori, 1 bye

bouncer, Vettori misses the pull, Elliott rushes through for the bye, de Kock Misses at the striker's end, Steyn misses at the non-striker's as Vettori dives

42.3
4
Steyn to Vettori, FOUR runs

Steyn bowls the yorker. The grand old man of NZ cricket Vettori makes room, opens the face with the horizontal bat. Squeezes this out perfectly to the left of third man for four. What a moment

Steyn stretches as he walks back to his mark. Dodgy hamstring. "Daniel Vettori," chants the crowd. The batsmen come up for a conversation. Play is held up as the physio comes in for Steyn. There is no way he will not bowl this over. It is the calf this time. A loud hush around the ground. The loudest hush you can imagine. Ten off four to win. Nine to tie. Steyn gets up after what looks like a couple of minutes

42.2
1
Steyn to Elliott, 1 run

full toss, drilled hard, in the air, on the bounce to cover. They get just the single

Eleven to win. Ten to tie. Anything will do. Dot. Wicket. Pressure from South Africa. This is a great match. Mid-off up, fine leg up

42.1
1b
Steyn to Vettori, 1 bye

Vettori backs away and swings, is beaten by a slower ball, but Elliott charges through to claim the strike

Steyn to bowl the final over

end of over 4211 runs
NZ: 286/6CRR: 6.80 RRR: 12.00
Grant Elliott77 (71b 7x4 2x6)
Daniel Vettori3 (3b)
Morne Morkel 9-0-59-3
Dale Steyn 8-0-65-1
41.6
2
Morkel to Elliott, 2 runs

Collision. Collision. Elliott pulls from outside off, gets a massive top edge between deep backward and fine leg. Behardien gets under it. Duminy rushes in from fine leg. No calling. They have dropped it. In the meanwhile Elliott and Vettori have missed out on the opportunity to take the third because they are standing in the middle of the pitch, waiting to see what happens

41.5
4
Morkel to Elliott, FOUR runs

Elliott pulls one back for New Zealand. He stays deep in the crease, moves across too to set himself up. Morkel thinks he wants to leg side, and he bowls full and wide. Elliott instead goes over extra cover. Nails it. Four crucial runs

41.4
1
Morkel to Vettori, 1 run

Steyn saves three there. Vettori moves inside the line to pull this to long leg. Steyn - dodgy hamstring - rushes to the right from fine leg and dives full length to save three

41.3
1
Morkel to Elliott, 1 run

bouncer, Elliott thinks this is his opportunity, but it is a slower bouncer, he gets a bottom edge for one

41.2
2
Morkel to Elliott, 2 runs

what luck for New Zealand. Elliott plays the pressure shot. He goes back into the crease, premeditating a short ball. Morkel bowls length. He swings. The ball gets big. It lobs up into the night sky. Midwicket goes back. Two fielders from the deep on the leg side rush in. But it falls smack in between

Gyanesh Prakash: "I am sitting in my office and everyone seems to be reporting to Sidharth Monga now. Including my boss :)"

41.1
1
Morkel to Vettori, 1 run

low full toss from round the wicket, Vettori makes room and drives, Amla makes a diving save at short cover. Saves three runs. What a contest. Everybody is giving it his all

Morkel has kept South Africa alive here. Can he bowl six good balls to give Steyn a big total to defend

end of over 416 runs • 1 wicket
NZ: 275/6CRR: 6.70 RRR: 11.50
Grant Elliott68 (67b 6x4 2x6)
Daniel Vettori1 (1b)
Dale Steyn 8-0-65-1
Imran Tahir 9-1-40-0
40.6
Steyn to Elliott, no run

pressure on New Zealand here. Low full toss, nearly a yorker, dug out to short straight midwicket where AB is in to save the single. Vettori is backing up too far. De Viliiers misses with the throw. They don't get the overthrow because mid-off is in the circle

40.5
1
Steyn to Vettori, 1 run

walks down the wicket, makes room, exposes the stumps, Steyn fires in a yorker, the bat comes down just in time. The NZ fans skipped a beat here. They take the single to point

What a time for Dan Vettori to come in. Every dot is pressure here. Can Vettori do it one more time for New Zealand?

40.4
1
Steyn to Elliott, 1 run

slower ball, clipped away off the pads for a single to fine leg

40.3
2
Steyn to Elliott, 2 runs

slower ball, short of a length, soft hands into the leg side, he rushes back for a risky second, and de Kock has missed him. De Kock is up to the stumps, Rossouw's throw is accurate, but a little too full. De Kock's gloves close early, he doesn't collect the ball, removes the bails with Elliott miles outside the crease

40.2
2
Steyn to Elliott, 2 runs

short of a length, makes room by arching back and cuts this to the right of third man for a couple

40.1
W
Steyn to Ronchi, OUT

he has picked out deep midwicket. This is just a length ball, and he has just played an instinctive aerial flick across the line. A nothing shot really, and he has found deep midwicket to perfection. A forgettable night for Ronchi. Dropped de Kock, wasn't great with his collections. Steyn meanwhile is pumped up. South Africa might have their noses ahead here

Luke Ronchi c Rossouw b Steyn 8 (7b 1x4 0x6 13m) SR: 114.28

It is getting tighter every ball. This is a cracker. Twenty-nine off 18; 28 will do it for New Zealand. Steyn is here

end of over 407 runs
NZ: 269/5CRR: 6.72 RRR: 9.66
Luke Ronchi8 (6b 1x4)
Grant Elliott63 (63b 6x4 2x6)
Imran Tahir 9-1-40-0
AB de Villiers 3-0-21-0
39.6
1
Tahir to Ronchi, 1 run

low full toss, driven hard and down the ground, Rossouw rushes to his right at long-off, and fields. Keeps them down to one. Sensational effort

39.5
4
Tahir to Ronchi, FOUR runs

lovely batting. Ronchi is a touch player. Flat length ball, into the pads, he has just chipped it. Just a caress. No back-lift, no follow-through. Just lifts it over midwicket for four

39.4
1
Tahir to Elliott, 1 run

flatter delivery, pulled away to the left of Amla at deep midwicket. They don't take his arm on

Best performances - batters
Spike Graph
Wagon Zone
GD Elliott
84 runs (73)
7 fours3 sixes
Productive shot
pull
24 runs
0 four3 sixes
Control
78%
F du Plessis
82 runs (107)
7 fours1 six
Productive shot
flick
23 runs
1 four0 six
Control
86%
Best performances - bowlers
M Morkel
O
9
M
0
R
59
W
3
ECO
6.55
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
2W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
CJ Anderson
O
6
M
0
R
72
W
3
ECO
12
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
1W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
1W
Match details
Eden Park, Auckland
TossSouth Africa, elected to bat first
Series
Season2014/15
Player Of The Match
Series resultNew Zealand advanced
Match numberODI no. 3644
Hours of play (local time)14.00 start, First Session 14.00-17.30, Interval 17.30-18.15, Second Session 18.15-21.45
Match days24 March 2015 - daynight (50-over match)
Umpires
TV Umpire
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee
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ICC Cricket World Cup

Pool A
TEAMMWLPTNRR
NZ660122.564
AUS64192.257
SL64280.371
BAN63270.136
ENG6244-0.753
AFG6152-1.853
SCOT6060-2.218
Pool B
TEAMMWLPTNRR
IND660121.827
SA64281.707
PAK6428-0.085
WI6336-0.053
IRE6336-0.933
ZIM6152-0.527
UAE6060-2.032