New Zealand vs South Africa semi-final ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Five reasons why South Africa lost
Five reasons why South Africa lost against New Zealand in semi-final
New Zealand and South Africa played a cracker of a game in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 semi-final at Eden Park, Auckland. Both sides aimed to make it to their first-ever World Cup final. In the end, New Zealand emerged the winner in what truly was an enthralling display of cricket, with the Proteas bowing out of the mega-event in a heart-breaking manner. Amit Banerjee lists five reasons why South Africa lost the crunch game.
South Africa and New Zealand have lot of things in common. Both nations are mad about rugby, with the latter considering it their primary sport ahead of the gentleman’s game. Speaking strictly in cricketing terms however, the most important similarity between the two sides was the tragedy of World Cup campaigns coming to a screeching halt. On a Tuesday afternoon, both teams had the opportunity to rewrite history by qualifying for a World Cup final for the first time. Read: Near perfect Kiwi show, curious errors on field — even Mike Horn’s motivational presence could not help South Africa in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Semi-Final
The match — which some would argue deserved to be the final — turned out to be every bit the cracker that it promised to be. It was a battle of the giants, with both teams showing dominance throughout the tournament. While the Proteas showed chinks in the armour during their games against India and Pakistan, one cannot forget that the side in the semi-final were a pumped-up one that had won their first-ever knock-out match during their nine-wicket thrashing of Sri Lanka. New Zealand, on the other hand, have never looked stronger in a World Cup. If they ever had a chance to lift the coveted trophy, it is in the ongoing edition. Read: Dale Steyn’s poor overseas record has cost South Africa ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 journey
As much as we hated the prospect of it, one team had to get knocked out. Unfortunately for many, it had to be South Africa. Their exit does not deny them the credit of putting up the best batting performance against the feared New Zealand attack. In the end, the Kiwis turned out to be the better batting team. Read: ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Why cry for South Africa?
Following are the five moments which were crucial for the South Africans, and ultimately played an important role in their heart-breaking loss:
1. Picking Vernon Philander ahead of Kyle Abbott: Kyle Abbott was one of the more consistent bowlers for South Africa in the World Cup alongside Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir. The right-arm pacer was lethal during the game against Ireland, and was also probing during the quarter-final rout of Sri Lanka. While one may argue that Vernon Philander is a better batsman down the order, the Proteas had to pick the more consistent bowler among the two in order to contain the explosive Kiwi batting order.
2. Rain spoils the proceedings for South Africa once again: South Africa lost two early wickets, as the New Zealand pace attack looked to feast on the helpful conditions. Rilee Rossouw struck 55-ball 39, before Faf du Plessis and skipper AB de Villiers batted with responsibility, guiding South Africa to 216 for three at the end of 38 overs. The pair looked set to launch towards the final overs, before the rain gods decided to spoil proceedings for the Proteas, like they did in 1992 and 2003.
Not only did it rob South Africa of their momentum, with Du Plessis getting dismissed shortly after the resumption of the match, it also reduced the match to 43 overs per side, robbing South Africa of a chance of finishing on a 350-plus total, the pressure of which would be on a different orbit for the Black Caps.
3. Failure to contain Brendon McCullum at the start of the innings: The New Zealand skipper had carved a niche for himself for taking his team off to an explosive start in the early overs. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, names which feature consistently among the top bowlers in the ICC Cricket ratings, were simply clueless when it came to taming McCullum, who went on a rampage as usual from the word ‘go,’ as he did with all the other oppositions in the tournament so far. At 71 for no loss at the end of five overs, New Zealand were set the ideal launch pad by McCullum. Read: South Africa’s World Cup dream shattered, but can return home with heads held high
4. Fielding goof-ups at crucial moments: When an opportunity arises to break a dangerous-looking partnership or send an established batsman back to the pavilion during a World Cup semi-final, one of the biggest sins one can commit is to let the opportunity go waste due to a fielding slip-up. South Africa unfortunately, had a handful of such moments in a match when they could not afford to let such things happen at any cost. Whether it was de Villiers’ missed run-out of Corey Anderson during the 32nd over, or Farhaan Behardien dropping Grant Elliott at the end of the 42nd over, the Proteas might have managed a different result but for their usually dependable fielding. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
5. Dale Steyn’s length delivery in the final over: Steyn, on a normal day, would be a captain’s dream choice for bowling the final over when the opposition needs 12 runs, with a set batsman at the crease. While the first couple of deliveries kept things tight, the third delivery was a yorker, which Daniel Vettori magically managed to transform into a boundary towards third man. In the end, Steyn did the unpardonable by bowling a length delivery, instead of the preferred yorker. Elliott welcomed the opportunity by smashing the ball over midwicket, sending Eden Park into frenzied celebrations. Both teams shed tears, one with joy and the other with sorrow.
(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)