New Zealand - Road to the semis
As Black Caps get ready for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semis against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
By Rajesh KumarChasing 222, South Africa were placed in a comfortable position (108 for two) against New Zealand in the quarter-final at Mirpur, Dhaka.
But, two key moments changed the complexion of the game altogether. Jacob Oram's outstanding running catch at deep mid-wicket off Tim Southee and Abraham de Villiers' run-out by Martin Guptill witnessed a South African collapse. South Africa hoping to secure their place in the semifinals, got knocked out by 49 runs. It was the biggest upset of the tournament.
After taking Kallis' catch, the Kiwis never looked back. Jacob Oram then performed with the ball, on a slow and low wicket, he concentrated on line and length to produce a match-winning four for 39 to be adjudged the Man of the Match.
Before their thrilling win over South Africa, New Zealand had won convincingly against Kenya by ten wickets at Chennai, Zimbabwe by ten wickets at Ahmedabad, Pakistan by 110 runs at Pallekele and Canada by 97 runs at Mumbai.
New Zealand, before reaching the quarter final stage, had suffered big defeats to Australia by seven wickets at Nagpur and to Sri Lanka by 112 runs at Mumbai.
Pakistn's only defeat in seven games in the present competition was due to one man show by Ross Taylor, who had posted a match-winning unbeaten knock of 131 off 124 balls on his birthday, guiding New Zealand to a 110-run win. That knock had actually put New Zealand in a comfortable position in terms of points tally apart from the net run rate.
With an inspired performance against the South Africans, New Zealand, in case of a win, would be making their first entry into the finals. They would surely like to improve their ICC Cricket World Cup record, having lost the previous five semi-finals.
In the semi-final clash against Sri Lanka, New Zealand would be heavily depenidng on their two star performers in the batting department - Ross Taylor (288 at an average of 72.00) including one hundred and one fifty and Brendon McCullum (243 at 48.60 including one century and one fifty). If one of them clicks in a big way, New Zealand can upstage Sri Lanka.
In the bowling department, Tim Southee topped the charts with 15 wickets at 17.00 runs apiece, followed by 12 at 16.00 runs aiece by Jacob Oram.
However, it is the skipper Daniel Vettori who is yet to come to terms with his reputation as as an all-rounder and lead by example. His figures of two wickets in five games at an average of 59.50 and just 50 runs in two innings at an average of 25.00 does little justice to his reputation.
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