Nah, we had more than enough opportunities to capitalise, especially that last 2 overs or so. Guttted, but NZ deserved it. They've been the team of the tournament so far, along with India.
I hope for another cracker in the other semi.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
I hope for another cracker in the other semi.
Come on..
That catch off the final ball of Morkel was a clear bottle job. As was the run out chance fecked up by De Kock.
I sense another pointless Arsenal style debate over what constitutes choking. SA played very well and gave it everything, but they still messed up two seemingly straight forward run out chances plus a catch at the end which would have won them the game. You can easily call that choking.
Right. Definition of choking: "To fail to perform effectively because of nervous agitation or tension, especially in an athletic contest".
They choked.
That's way off the mark. Why did they choke in 99 then? They played extremely well then and forced a tie but then bundled up from a position they should have won 99 times out of 100.
Your overall performance does not matter in a choke. They were clearly nervous here in the end and fluffed those chances.
An even game of cricket that was decided on the narrowest of margins.
Wouldn't call this a choke from South Africa, but what a match! You only needed to see Morne Morkel's wife to sense the tension.
That is their very definition of choking. If you get bundled out for 150 and the other team wins comfortably, then that's not a choke job at all.
This NZ side actually look like they can win it.
I agree. People on here always confuse playing well with choking. It's possible to play very well and still choke.
Ah man... feel so much for AB... bloody love the bloke.
Absolutely spot on. Messing up regulation chances in pressure situations.
The rain did have a huge effect on the game. It brought NZ back into the game. At that stage NZ part time bowlers would've had to bowl about 5 of the last 12. We could easily have gotten 350+. And we were well in charge at that stage. It did have an effect.
End of the day, we should've taken our chances but then again, in pressure situations anything can happen and I will not call the boys chokers. They showed up today but just weren't good enough
Calling it a choke is a massive disservice to this New Zealand team.
Choking is a proper bottle job and far more negative than your definition makes it sound, like 1999 when they had four balls to score one run and lost it to a stupid run out. This game, the other side were better.
Yeah you were definitely fecked over by the rain, and given NZ bowled superbly at the start, you had no choice but to play steadily for a large part of the innings
By that definition a few of the NZ players choked too. I agree with kps though that we've had many versions of the same argument and it's kind apointless to rehash it all again. I dislike the term used in this particular situation because it moves the focus away from NZ and places and emphasis on a negative aspect of the game.
Best match of the world cup so far for me..
Yeah, no doubt the rain had an effect, but what I'm saying is that rain didn't cost us the match, missed opportunities at key moments did.
The missed stumping, dropped catches, run outs - and a few of them in the final overs as well....
FFS.Steyn fell apart, mentally when he was taken for 25 runs so early in the chase, and physically at the end when his leg gave out. A shame to see arguably the best fast bowler of all time have that experience in the most important match of his career.
Without the rain South Africa would have made 320-340 so that's where one must have sympathy for South Africa. I couldn't stand the tension, so I Thursday is like this I've no idea what I'll be doing.
As a Kiwi I'm fecking stoked, absolutely elated, but I have no idea how we won that. Incredible. My only concern is that the Black Caps may feel like they've already played their final, hope they have something left in the tank for the final.
Yeah, no doubt the rain had an effect, but what I'm saying is that rain didn't cost us the match, missed opportunities at key moments did.
The missed stumping, dropped catches, run outs - and a few of them in the final overs as well....
The missed run out on Anderson lost the match for SA. It's amazing how it was ABD of all people who bottled that. You could tell from his facial expression afterwards that it was the turning point.
Always the Bridesmaid. 
If you call yourself the "best team in the world" then you have to take those chances at crucial moments. That is what makes you the best. Complete bottle job by the South Africans. The game kept giving them chances and they kept pissing at them.
5 runs from 2 balls and the best bowler of our generation gets hit for a six Chetan Sharma style. You can't make this shit up!
Chuffed for the Kiwis! Been rooting for them since the start. An India vs New Zealand final will be made in heaven.
Come on India!
If you call yourself the "best team in the world" then you have to take those chances at crucial moments. That is what makes you the best. Complete bottle job by the South Africans. The game kept giving them chances and they kept pissing at them.
5 runs from 2 balls and the best bowler of our generation gets hit for a six Chetan Sharma style. You can't make this shit up!
Chuffed for the Kiwis! Been rooting for them since the start. An India vs New Zealand final will be made in heaven.
Come on India!
I think NZ would have chased 320 as it would have been a slightly lower RRR. 340+ and it would have been favorable for SA and SA would most likely have reached that with the set batsmen and Miller to come.
Just saw that NZ were knocked out six times in World Cup semis. Wonder why they weren't called chokers?
I think the sheer achievement of making that many semis makes it less of a choke situation than what SA has experienced. IIRC this is the first semi that SA have reached. Ridiculous considering that talent they have had through the years.
325 would have been par on this small ground. They may have got 350, but they should also have defended 298 in 43 overs. Rain is not the reason they lost, it's an excuse.
Because NZ getting to the semis before this year was them overachieving. SA have had awesome teams and lost in insane circumstances.
Amazing semi though, both brought it. Great cricket. ODI is alive, at least in World Cup form, since the T20 WC is no way near this.
Amazing semi though, both brought it. Great cricket. ODI is alive, at least in World Cup form, since the T20 WC is no way near this.
Because the Black Caps overachieve by getting to the semis, they are never (on paper or by ICC ranking) one of the best in the world.
Yeah, no doubt the rain had an effect, but what I'm saying is that rain didn't cost us the match, missed opportunities at key moments did.
The missed stumping, dropped catches, run outs - and a few of them in the final overs as well....
Don't get me wrong, we had chances. However, the rain really did mess up our entire game plan. We had a fantastic platform to really bat them out of the game. There's no doubt in my mind that the rain had a significant impact on our players.
To be honest, it's these sort of tournaments and games which define unbelievable players. This is obviously a kneejerk reaction, but today's performance clearly shows why he won't really be considered an all time great by the end of his career IMO.
The Saffers knocked out by one of their own...
Is not playing even a single match in Australia during the world cup going to be a disadvantage for NZ? I feel so..
Such a spectacle for the world cup.. This is why ODIs can't be replaced by 20-20 cricket.. AB looks gutted,that post match speech was very good..
Such a spectacle for the world cup.. This is why ODIs can't be replaced by 20-20 cricket.. AB looks gutted,that post match speech was very good..
This is the fourth semi for SA actually. They weren't an ICC member in apartheid days, so their first World Cup was in 1992. Their achievements so far have been pretty good. NZ has been in it since 1975. Same as England. Both those teams have choked in multiple World Cups.
South Africa have NEVER had the best team at any World Cup.
It shouldn't be a major issue, less so if it's India we're playing.
They arguably did for this one.
That's just a matter of perception I think. Your 1992 team was among the best in the world at the time, until the semi finals. Pakistan were really good, but they were lucky to even get to the semis - they lost to India and had a tie or no result against England earlier IIRC. If they'd lost that second game then they'd have been knocked out.
We got lucky when the rain came down, just check out Brendan McMillans comments regarding that. Hope we play the Aussies in the final for the simple reason so many of the India fans on here come across as complete cnuts.