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New Zealand have secured a place in their first World Cup final after securing a thrilling win against South Africa at Eden Park.
South Africa won the toss and elected to bat, and scored 3/216 off 38 overs before rain forced the game to be shortened to 43 overs per side, from which South Africa scored 5/281 off 43 overs, revised to a target of 298 off 43 overs for New Zealand.
On the second last ball, Grant Elliott scored six runs to win a cliffhanger by four wickets via the Duckworth Lewis method.
For this, New Zealand enter their first World Cup Final on Sunday in Melbourne.
New Zealand face South Africa at Auckland’s Eden Park in a semi-final to decide which team will make their first ever appearance in a World Cup final. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 11:30am (AEDT).
New Zealand have won every match and ticked every box required of them this tournament.
In the space of seven games, they’ve showcased the ability to bat dynamically, bowl incisively, field with the enthusiasm of bloodhounds (a trait that has never changed about New Zealand cricket), and win both one-sided and tight games.
In this World Cup, the Proteas have managed to enter the same scenario as undefeated New Zealand, despite enduring defeats against India and Pakistan during the group stages. While questions remain about elements of South Africa’s gameplay, what we also realise is how they accomplished a major psychological hurdle last week in thrashing Sri Lanka.
Having shed the monkey and got the taste of victory in a World Cup knockout game, there will be no fear coming to Auckland.
That is the underlying element to all this – fear. Having ‘overachieved’ for so long, New Zealand now have genuine expectation of bettering their Cup record of six semi-finals and finally entering a decider. No changes are expected to the line-up, and the team will be pleased at the plethora of match-winning options at their disposal, with Martin Guptill’s historic innings against the West Indies still fresh in the mind in a game where both Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson failed to fire.
On the bowling side, Adam Milne will be persevered with, in the hope he fires should any of Tim Southee, Trent Boult or Daniel Vettori fail to.
South Africa know that one victory does not mean anything in the wider context, especially in a knockout format. Coming to Auckland, as Australia would attest, is not an easy task, not least for the unique ground dimensions as well as the partisan crowd. Australia made the mistake of underestimating the bowling assistance on offer while trying to target the short boundaries, and were dismissed cheaply. South Africa’s challenge will be to avoid that.
South Africa will likely keep the same XI, with the only possible change being the return of Vernon Philander from injury in place of Kyle Abbott. This is the difficult option for coach Russell Domingo, as while Philander is regularly the favoured option, Abbott has been a wonderful substitute and does not deserve to lose his place.
The Proteas have been well served by their batting options down to Rilee Rossouw at six, with the duo of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers guaranteed to give New Zealand’s bowlers their sternest test yet.
In the bowling, it was South Africa’s spinners, not pacemen, who grabbed the headlines against Sri Lanka. While Morne Morkel has been reliably consistent this tournament, Dale Steyn is yet to peak. Such a prospect is daunting as South Africa require more from their talisman. But the real boon has been the form of leg spinner Imran Tahir, who may be the deciding factor in South Africa’s line-up in the way Mushtaq Ahmed, Shane Warne and Brad Hogg were in previous World Cups.
New Zealand are nominal favourites, given their form and home-ground advantage. Yet the pressure cooker of a knockout game against a side that has finally cracked the code to survive in this format makes for a slightly nervous encounter for the home team.
With two blasters in McCullum and de Villiers, a fast and powerful pace attack, and intelligent spin options, splitting these two is impossible. With a maiden World Cup Final appearance on the line, both will be playing for history, and that cannot be measured by any analysis.
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