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As Grant Elliot slogged Dale Steyn for six and the Eden Park army erupted, New Zealand had done more than secure passage to their first World Cup final, and South Africa more than lose a game – they had both reminded us that the World Cup is truly the pinnacle cricket.
It has been easy to get caught up in everything other than ODI cricket in recent years. With enthralling Ashes series, the rise of the BBL – Test and T20 cricket seemed to have everything ODIs were lacking: the glory, the excitement, the crowds.
And who could blame fans for shifting their attention?
But one thing was made explicitly clear as the first World Cup semi-final began to crescendo, what both other formats lack is an individual honour of comparable glory to claiming the World Cup.
There are Test series, sure. But a Test series is a duel, and the glory is isolated. Even the honour of holding a number one ranking can at times be tainted by a steep rise a sharp fall if fixtures come in and out of favour.
And yes, there is the T20 World Cup, but it’s too frequent, and yet to develop true history or prestige.
The Word Cup is the only cricketing competition that fills out a respectable global tournament while providing a fair representation of cricketing skill and tradition.
Every four years it pits the cricketing world against each other, offering the winner the chance to legitimately claim the title of the world’s best.
We need only reflect on the emotion of the players, or the faces in the crowd post-match in Wellington, to be firmly remind this is a once in a career opportunity for these men, and in the case of last night’s match, a once in a lifetime chance for these two nations to experience cricket’s ultimate honour.
For such a long-standing competition it is amazing how elusive success has been for South Africa and New Zealand. Fistfuls of semi-finals between them, and at last one has earned the chance to compete for the title.
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This alone exhibits the gravity of playing and winning at a World Cup compared to all other awards and accolades on offer in world cricket.
So why did we require such a dramatic reminder?
Unfortunately the simple fact that there was any need means ODI cricket truly has lost the momentum that it used to own.
Even throughout the last five weeks, at times the competition has plodded along (at best) and no fan could be blamed for letting their interest wane.
Since the arrival of T20 cricket, the equilibrium of global cricket has been thrown off, and it is yet to truly stabilise. The calendar has become stuffed to the point at which times in the summer feel saturated, and there is certainly grounds to argue that formats hinder each other as much as it helps them flourish.
So while T20s have grown, and Test tradition continued, ODIs have taken the brunt of the blows in the tussle for front spot, and what fans were picking from the smorgasbord of cricket coverage indicated the appetite for ODIs was abating.
Then last night we were quickly reminded of the glory, pain, and drama this format carries, and now the slow burn that has been this World Cup so far appears destined to reward.
Claiming a Cricket World Cup is the pinnacle of cricket, and in the coming days it will be celebrated as such. But whether ODI cricket can harness this momentum, or fall back in line post-World Cup, will be interesting to watch.
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