2015 World Cup - Semifinal 1 - New Zealand v South Africa

KevIRL

297 and a tie will do nz as they finished higher in the group stage they would progress

mrkiscool2

2 runs a ball needed! This is going to be close! A 6 would change the course of it though!

Rikand

omg! What a finish to that game!

BarryD

What a finish - fair dues to NZ & Elliott

Surely man of the match by sustaining that at the end.

axe2grind

Amazing!!!

tmq

great effort black caps.... south africa, chokers again? (dropped catches, missed run outs)

mrkiscool2

This is why I love cricket. Games like that. Absolutely amazing!

Rjd2

So pleased for Elliot, but rubbish from Steyn all game. He is in serious decline.

Dozen Wicked Words

Delighted for New Zealand, fantastic game of cricket, best of the tournament for me. The Australia India game has a lot to live up to now!

sid waddell

Sport doesn't get much more dramatic than that!

tmq

In fairness to S.A. the rain didn't do them any favours.

booth70

Steyn been rubbish at the shorter format for a long time now.....

NZ deservedly in the finals based on how well McCullum has captained and come out firing each time and how well they have bowled all tournament......

Easily the best semifinal in a World Cup since 1999

axe2grind

tmq wrote: »

great effort black caps.... south africa, chokers again? (dropped catches, missed run outs)

Not at all, NZ won rather than SA losing. NZ had plenty dodgy moments as well, both teams showed their nerves throughout.

booth70

axe2grind wrote: »

Not at all, NZ won rather than SA losing. NZ had plenty dodgy moments as well, both teams showed their nerves throughout.

Both teams did try their very best to lose at different stages in the game but what a spectacle it was

tmq

its a bit tough on NZ now they have to go to Melbourne for the final... very different atmosphere, and the MCG is much bigger.

Giggsy11

Again rain didn't help South Africans but credit to NZ for the way they chased the score.

Fantastic match.

Rjd2

tmq wrote: »

In fairness to S.A. the rain didn't do them any favours.

Its a tough one, but they had 2 absolute sitters to run out players and the last over from Steyn was garbage. Choke is a harsh word, but they blew it ultimately.

mrkiscool2

booth70 wrote: »

Both teams did try their very best to lose at different stages in the game but what a spectacle it was

I totally disagree with this. South Africa had one or two chances to take wickets but apart from that they were beaten by a very good New Zealand side who were lucky the rain feel when it did.

Rjd2

booth70 wrote: »

Steyn been rubbish at the shorter format for a long time now.....

NZ deservedly in the finals based on how well McCullum has captained and come out firing each time and how well they have bowled all tournament......

Easily the best semifinal in a World Cup since 1999

Agreed on all that. Again I know I have banged on about it a bit now, but Abbot a specialist death bowler not playing after a quality campaign was lunacy.
Their was no justification for that selection, none whatsoever, and it cost them along with the horror fielding.

booth70

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

I totally disagree with this. South Africa had one or two chances to take wickets but apart from that they were beaten by a very good New Zealand side who were lucky the rain feel when it did.

What I meant was that given both teams had never been past the semifinals the pressure was getting to both teams in terms of wickets lost , run out chances missed , catches missed

Both teams didn't know how to close the match out when they had a chance and that is what made the match a classic that it ended up being

endabob1

tmq wrote: »

In fairness to S.A. the rain didn't do them any favours.

It came at a terrible time for them and they lost a lot of momentum

booth70 wrote: »

Steyn been rubbish at the shorter format for a long time now.....

This.
I think he is still a very good test bowler, but limited over bowling has become such a different beast since 20/20 has taken hold.


Not sure what his stats are like for the world cup, but he is no longer the real strike bowler he was and is far too expensive

booth70

The D/L projected scoring is so out-dated IMHO

In this era of T20 cricket and 200 runs being scored off the last 15 overs the projected scores in the event of a rain delay don't make sense to me anymore particularly when you have 5 or 6 wickets in the bag

But I guess until we have another system in place we have to keep going with it.....

tmq

booth70 wrote: »

The D/L projected scoring is so out-dated IMHO

In this era of T20 cricket and 200 runs being scored off the last 15 overs the projected scores in the event of a rain delay don't make sense to me anymore particularly when you have 5 or 6 wickets in the bag

But I guess until we have another system in place we have to keep going with it.....

Very true.... I wonder what Messrs Duckworth & Lewis are up to these days? Surely couldn't be too hard to modernise the approach.

Rjd2

Jacovs

My nerves. South Africa beaten by a South African born player. We really lost the game in the first 5 overs and I said as much after those first 5 overs.
Now I hope NZ go on to win the tournament, preferably by beating India.

Rjd2

One more..

A couple of South Africans I don't like, Philander, Philander, and Philander, but AB, Faf and Morne especially are favs of mine.

I do criticise Morne, but only because he has the potential to be as good as anybody in thee world, and I want to see him do it on a regular basis.

So sad.:(

I dunno, I know some have said its 4 long years, but the t20 world cup has a serious amount of prestige these days so maybe they can win that next year in India?

Difficult not to like NZ though, apart from Ryder, and the "fixers" can't really remember a player from their I have remotely disliked.

Giggsy11

Gutted for SAffers especially after watching AB De in tears. Had a great world cup but somehow others failed to step up when it mattered most. Their fielding was the worst I have seen by any South African team. 2 run outs and 2 catches that changed the game completely.

Hopefully SA win at least 1 world cup, don't care if its any format. I wanted SA to win the world cup if India can't.

Giggsy11

pajor

I'm so pissed with myself that I didn't realise the first SF was on today. For some reason I thought it was tomorrow.

Ah well.. c'mon NZ!

Gillespy

Great shame it rained. They were on for 400. Faf was superb. He was tailor made for that situation and was just moving through the gears as the rain came. No one can say they choked, it just wasn't their day.

I wanted a NZ v Aus final from the get go so half way there. Tomorrow to finish the job. Thankfully the final is at the MCG, great atmosphere and all at Eden Park but I hate short boundaries. NZ will have to cope with that and being away from home for the first time. Get the feeling their name is on the trophy though.