South Africa captain Graeme Smith didn't have enough words to eplain to what happened when his team choked again — for the umpteenth time — and their dream of winning a World Cup title remains. The fireworks that went off at the Sher- e- Bangla Stadium immediately after they lost to New Zealand in the quarter- final here on Friday seemed to be mocking them for failing to win a match that they should have easily clinched.
On Friday, the South African batsmen failed to come good chasing 221 after their bowlers had so beautifully set up the game. Full credit to all- rounder Jacob Oram for capturing four crucial wickets and Jesse Ryder for scoring a fine 83 that guided New Zealand to a 49- run win with 6.4 overs to spare. The victory took them to their sixth semifinal in the premier tournament.
New Zealand won the toss and posted 221 for eight wickets, with Jesse Ryder (83, 121 balls, 8x4s) and Ross Taylor (43, 72 balls, 1x4, 1x6) being the top scorers. Morne Morkel took three wickets for South Africa. Chasing, South Africa were all out for 172 in 43.2 overs, with Jacques Kallis being the top scorer with 47 (75 balls, 3x4s).
New Zealand bowlers bowled with purpose and the fielders gave it their all, diving and stopping with their full might. Determination oozed in their efforts and it paid rich dividends. They held some crucial catches too, like the brilliant one by Oram that dismissed dangerman Jacques Kallis.
New Zealand had lost in the semifinal in the 2007 World Cup and now Daniel Vettori’s boys have an opportunity to attempt to win the first title for their country. In the first semifinal in Colombo on Tuesday, the Kiwis will play the winner of the England- Sri Lanka quarter- final on Saturday, also to be played in Colombo.
In the five editions before this one, South Africa were eliminated thrice in the semi- finals, once in the quarter- final and on one occasion they exited from the first round. South Africa have a strong enough batting line- up, but on the day of reckoning they failed to deliver. They lost their last eight wickets for 64 to lose the match abysmally.
Earlier, New Zealand batsmen again failed to exploit the advantage of batting first as speedsters Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn checked their progress. Jesse Ryder was the only batsman who managed to cross the half- century mark (83, 121 balls, 8x4s) while Ross Taylor (43, 72 balls, 1x4, 1x6) came close to it.
New Zealand's batting had let them down in the group stage and only twice before did they manage to post 300- plus totals and only once a 200- plus score. Their best batting performance came against Pakistan and they also managed to win that game.
Like South Africa, New Zealand too were hit by the lack of good partnerships. And a middle order collapse, in which they lost six wickets for 80 in 15.5 overs, further hampered their progress. The Kiwis would have been in a more precarious position had it not been for the lone meaningful partnership for the third wicket between Ryder, who crossed 1,000 ODI runs during his innings, and Taylor.
They were instrumental in taking the Kiwis to a respectable, if not a competitive, total as they scored 114 in 27 overs for the third wicket.
The quick departures of Taylor and Ryder — only 23 runs were scored between their dismissals — put paid to the Kiwi hopes of a big total. The rest of the middle and lower order simply failed to rise to the occasion.
2 comments:
Sad. SA paid for leaving the middle order, specifically Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel, at home.
It would have taken a captain Mark Boucher to lead this tem to win the WC. Unfortunately, in the post 2003 WC disaster witch-hunt, all things touched by Hansie Cronje were tossed. That sad era is finally over.
Things can only get better from here. Now that Biff can stop pretending to be a captain, a job he obviously hates, he can focus on regaining his form - some quick runs (the Smith trademark back when) at the top of the order would have helped today.
One thing that SA should remember while they prepare their team for the ultimate cup of glory is... leave d boys at home... & travel with the men only. It takes not just talent, and tactics, but also steely minds to win the World Cup. Gud bye Graeme Smith. U've been gud, but not better than all of those previous lot of captains. We fans have been making castles in the air yet another time, and will be doing so till the age of grown-ups come in SA cricket.
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