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ICC CWC LIVE, 3rd QF: NZ vs SA (New Zealand are 221 for eight)

Nathan McCullum snapped up Hashim Amla to peg South Africa back early in their chase. Click through for LIVE STREAMING! ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP LIVE STREAMING. CLICK HERE 

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Both Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum were back in the hut early scoring 1 and 4 respectively. Peterson and Steyn got one each.


Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in the third quarter-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Both teams are playing three specialist spinners with Daniel Vettori back in the New Zealand squad.


Himanshu Shekhar says: 


 Rain expected today in Dhaka. Will rain once again wash away South Africa's World Cup hopes? Too early to say right now. Daniel Vettori has opted to bat on a greenish looking surface. Big gamble.


TEAMS


New Zealand: BB McCullum†, MJ Guptill, JD Ryder, LRPL Taylor, SB Styris, KS Williamson, NL McCullum, DL Vettori (Captain), JDP Oram, TG Southee, LJ Woodcock
   
South Africa: GC Smith (Captain), HM Amla, JH Kallis, AB de Villiers†, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, J Botha, RJ Peterson, M Morkel, DW Steyn, Imran Tahir

PITCH REPORT BY DANNY MORRISON: There are plenty of cracks in the track. It is a flattish surface and the team winning the toss should bat first.

Dangerous floaters New Zealand and favourites South Africa cross swords in the third quarter-final today.


MATCH PREVIEW


By Himanshu Shekhar in Mirpur, Dhaka


The entry of the two teams into the quarter-finals has been a study in contrasts.

New Zealand have struggled for consistency throughout, sparkling one day to beat group-toppers Pakistan but losing comprehensively to both Australia and Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, South Africa have been in dominant form - their dramatic six-run loss to England being the only blip in an otherwise solid campaign so far.

It's the Proteas who start as overwhelming favourites, but New Zealand possess quite a few game-breakers who can turn things around dramatically in double-quick time. One of them, Ross Taylor, has already done that - in four manic overs against Pakistan.

Scott Styris is another player with the talent to make a big impact and with this likely to be his last ICC Cricket World Cup, the all-rounder has an added incentive to leave his mark on the game's biggest stage.

The Kiwis will be boosted by news that two of their key players will be fit for this vital clash. Skipper Daniel Veottri has recovered from a knee injury while dashing opener Brendon McCullum is good to go as well.

While form and class favour the South Africans, history is on Kiwis' side with the side from Down Under having won the two most recent ICC CWC encounters (2003 in Johannesburg and 2007 in Grenada) between the two teams.

That is perhaps on the reasons why skipper Graeme Smith sounded a note of caution before the game, labelling New Zealand a "street smart" team. Expect no complacency when his side take the field.
South Africa have some history on their side as well, having lifted the Wills International Cup under Hansie Cronje back in November 1998.

Everyone is expecting an easy win for the tournament favourites on Friday, but this World Cup has already made a mockery of predictions in many a game. It would be foolhardy to write New Zealand off before a ball has been bowled. Not in this game of glorious uncertainties.

South Africa vs New Zealand in ODIs/World Cup

ODIs
Total Matches Played: 51
South Africa wins: 30 (Win % 63.82)
New Zealand wins: 17 (Win % 36.17)
No result: Four

World Cup
New Zealand have won three and lost two out of five played against South Africa.

Overall World Cup Record
South Africa have won 30 and lost 14 out of 46 played - winning %  67.39 (Tied 2).

New Zealand have won 39 and lost 28 out of 68 played (NR 1) - winning %  58.20      

Approaching milestones- Abraham de Villiers (318 at an average of 106.00 in four games) needs 72 runs to complete his 400 runs in the current competition.

- Only three South Africans have accomplished the feat of amassing 400 runs in a World Cup competition - Jacques Kallis (485 in 2006-07), Graeme Smith (443 in 2006-07) and Peter Kirsten (410 in 1991-92).

- If he scores a hundred, Villiers (3) would become the first South African to post four hundreds at the World Cup.  He will join the leaders - Sachin Tendulkar (6), Sourav Ganguly (4), Ricky Ponting (4) and Mark Waugh (4).

- James Franklin (961) needs 39 runs to complete 1000 runs in ODIs.
- Ross Taylor (2976) needs 24 runs to complete 3000 runs in ODIs.

- Jesse Ryder (939) needs 61 runs to complete 1000 runs in ODIs.

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