1st Semi Final - New Zealand v South Africa (24th March)

[indiaholic]

AB's press conference:
Press Conference : South Africa captain AB de Villiers talks about their heart breaking loss against New Zealand | de Villiers devastated in coming up short | Cricket videos, MP3, podcasts, cricket audio | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Agreed, I don't understand why people want him to try to play more conservatively. He clearly needs that aggressive mindset to be able to bat well in the first place and he has confidence in the team to bring it home even if he gets out.

yeah half the game I was arguing with my mates who said he should've slowed down and played cafefully after getting 50. I argued there's no point at all in that since those deliveries are better used by our middle order cakes, and Baz seems to thrive on a single minded approach.

 

[kiwiviktor81]

Agreed, I don't understand why people want him to try to play more conservatively. He clearly needs that aggressive mindset to be able to bat well in the first place and he has confidence in the team to bring it home even if he gets out.

Also agree. Had he stayed in for 5 more overs batting like that we might have won comfortably.

I still get oddly uneasy every time he brings up 50 with Guptill still in single figures. Don't know why.

 

[biased indian]

probably got lost in the general bickering, but most of the people arguing with me - including NZ supporters - were of the opinion that SA were being robbed of runs because ABDV...Was so weird.

And then he only scored 5 or so runs after the break which was great, and Miller was actually the one to overperform. Kinda illustrated my point.

the fact is the break didn't help ABD for sure ..agreed he could have got out next ball but what if he he had stayed on for another 8 overs with out interruption .. even if no overs where reduced the only thing that break would have done was to help NZ..and i still believe 350 /50 would have been harder to chase than what they eventually did .

 

[OverratedSanity]

hmmm nah just as hard tbh. cbf working out the asking rate but with what we had (297 in 43) if SA scored 350 in an alternate universe i'd be seriously considering taking the extra 53 runs for an extra 7 overs.

in the end 300 from 43 was a fair ask and you back yourself to win a game if you have that total behind you most days.

Yeah 300 in 43 was a monumental chase definitely. One of the all time great WC chases.

But if you read my post,that entire debate was based on a hypothetical scenario where NZ were set 264 in 38 overs vs 350 in 50. It's a difference of 12 overs without a change in the RR. 300 in 43 is still pretty fair and an incredible chase.

 

[GotSpin]

He was great in the Sky Interview

 

[dermo]

hows social copping all the **** for saying SA were robbed when it was spikey who brought it up first, WAC he is

 

[indiaholic]

Interesting that they consulted and decided to bowl length.

 

[Flem274*]

yeah the post match stuff on sky uk was awesome

 

[ImpatientLime]

awesome picture of ali cook, darryl mitchell, sam billings and graham onions watching the end of the game on a phone at the mcc v yorks match.

 

[Xuhaib]

Pleased to see this...

If I am a Saffer I am not proud of their WC campaign they went 2-3 against top 8 sides just not good enough for a team of this calibre.

 

[Spikey]

hows social copping all the **** for saying SA were robbed when it was spikey who brought it up first, WAC he is

 

[OverratedSanity]

Interesting that they consulted and decided to bowl length.

More likely he tried a yorker and missed it.

 

[slugger]

so how many of you guys are going to join Jono in the final..

I have tickets to the final.. got them 3 months back. Ponsford stand yeahhh !!!!

 

[vic_orthdox]

AB nearly won SA the game with his bowling spell. Duminy keeps on being used up to 8 overs worth, NZ have knocked another 15 or so runs from the chase.

Putting the ball in his own hands at that stage of the game, and going as well as he did (relatively, and really only one ball got taken) was the part of the game that really gave the Proteas a shot.

 

[Flem274*]

I celebrated this win with my last piece of bannana cake (Elliott), some ice cream (Anderson) and some chocolate sauce (Vettori).

The cake is a bit old though so the icing tastes off and might make me sick (Ronchi's shot to get out).

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Bowl first - I want Elliott to hit the winning runs. Ronchi can do likewise if we play Australia in the final.

Nice.

 

[Burgey]

There's always a million stories in the naked city that is the post script to a close cricket match... That catch, that diving save, the effect of rain, etc etc

Just gotta love the effort of both sides and appreciate it. Soak it up. What a magnificent game it is that we all love. No negativity please, just bask in it. The joy, the depair. This game is a metaphor for life. Embrace it.

 

[NUFAN]

I'm so glad I remembered to record the post game show +20 minutes or I would have missed out on the finish. I watched only like 3 balls before the rain, but those 48.5 overs after the rain were just amazing viewing.

I haven't been able to go through the thread but I do wonder how much SA will regret not playing Abbott? Awesome game, I definitely didn't think Elliott had it in him to produce such an amazing performance in a pressure situation, well done NZ.

 

[ajdude]

love how you actually used the puush link where i uploaded it to and you didn't just grab it from C:/Users/Spikey/My Pictures/ajdude/Greatest Hits/February 2014/steynface.jpg and upload it yourself