New Zealand v South Africa

The Clash of the Titans

The super eight match on Saturday saw two significant contenders of the cup locking horns. A win for any one of them would seal the berth in the semi finals of the cricket world cup. Both of them had a good run at the world cup. Although South Africa had a setback in the match against Bangladesh but came back strong in the next match. The Kiwis however are going strong in this tournament without giving away an inch ground to the opponent.

Coin rolled in favor of Fleming

The New Zealander skipper Stephen Fleming won the toss and elected to field first. This has become a customary practice in this cricket world cup. The idea was to exploit the morning conditions, which supported the seam bowling. Stephen Fleming showed faith in his quick bowlers and gave them a chance to have a go at the batting line up of the Protease.

Disastrous start

The Protease openers gave a nightmarish opening to such a crucial match of the group eight stage. Together they could accumulate just 3 runs in their short stay at the wicket. First to depart was the South African skipper Graeme Smith by scoring a single from 12 balls. He was picked by the ace pacer Shane Bond in the 2nd over of the match. In the very next over the other opener AB de Villiers was out lbw on a bowl from Franklin. South Africa was in a great jeopardy with just 3 runs on board for the loss of 2 wickets in 3 overs.

Damage control

The South African innings was then anchored by the veterans Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs. They were involved in a patient 49 runs partnership to bail South Africa of the sticky situation. Kallis scored 22 runs of 54 balls before he was caught by Shane Bond on the bowling of Daniel Vettori in the 20th over of the match. South African reached 54 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. Although some stability was attained in the innings but still the proceedings were slow and shaky for the South Africans.

Valiant effort by Gibbs

Gibbs continued to hold one side of the wicket and he was ably supported by Ashwell Prince. They both raised 76 runs in their partnership to put back South Africa in the contention. Their partnership took past South Africa the 100 run mark. Gibbs was bowled by Craig McMillan scoring 60 runs from 100 balls. The scoreboard was reading 128 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 36.6 overs. Next to depart was Ashwell Prince scoring 37 runs from 57 balls. The tail enders also chipped in with some useful contribution. Andrew Hall scored 17 runs from 17 balls, RJ Peterson scored 8 runs from 8 balls and Shaun Pollock remained unbeaten on 21 runs from 26 balls to take the South African total to 193 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their quota of 50 overs.
Clinical bowling by the Kiwis

Kiwis adhered to a very methodical approach to contain the South African batting on such low total. They stuck to a very nagging line and length that did not allow any room to the Protease to play strokes. Craig McMillan was the most successful of the lot with 3 wickets in his kitty giving away 23 runs. Shane Bond also did some damage with his early strike and picking up 2 wickets. The other successful bowlers in the squad were JEC Franklin and Daniel Vettori who shared one wicket each.

Unstable in the beginning

The Kiwi innings in the beginning was also laced with some hiccups. The openers PG Fulton was out in the 8th over of the match with just 25 runs on the board. He made 16 runs from 32 balls before getting caught by Hall on the bowling of Makhaya Ntini. With another 17 runs added to the total score RL Taylor was out scoring 10 runs from 17 balls. New Zealand team was stranded on 42 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 12.2 overs.

Solid partnership at the middle…

At this juncture only a steady partnership could bail out New Zealand and the required partnership came from skipper Fleming and Scott Styris. They together put on 78 runs on the board to take past New Zealand the 100 run mark. Both scored a pleasant half centuries to put the Kiwis back in pedestal. Stephen Fleming scored a responsible 50 runs from 84 balls and took the score to 120 runs in 30.1 overs. The next stable partnership was between Scott Styris and Craig McMillan, together they put on 46 runs to take New Zealand close to the winning mark. Styris was out on 56 runs from 84 balls when the scoreboard was reading 176 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 43.4 overs. After two strong partnerships it was just a formality for the New Zealanders to edge past the winning mark. Craig McMillan remained unbeaten on 38 runs from 55 balls. Kiwis finished at the score of 196 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 48.2 overs.

Kiwis cruises to victory

New Zealand clinched a win in the crucial match of the super eight match and booked their place in the semi finals of the cricket world cup. Although they played at a slower pace but reached the victory margin with 1 over and 4 balls to spare. They won the match with a comfortable margin of 5 wickets. The South African could not do any wonders with Andre Nel picking up 2 wickets. The other bowlers Peterson, Ntini and Pollock shared one wicket each.

Man of the match

Craig McMillan from New Zealand was invested with the title of man of the match. He was chosen because of his all round effort to take New Zealand to victory. He was active on both sides of the match. First he depleted the South African batting line up with a bowling statistics of 5-0-23-3. He also made a significant contribution with the bat by scoring 38 runs and remained unbeaten till the end.