You smack one of the world's best bowlers - Dale Steyn - for six over long-on to book your adopted country its first World Cup final appearance.
Grant Elliott, the South African-born batsman who was a late inclusion in the New Zealand World Cup squad when the selectors lost faith in Jimmy Neesham, had just played the innings of his life.
His undefeated 84, and that shot in particular, brought a crowd of more than 40,000 to its feet.
The match appeared to have slipped away from the home side when it needed a demanding 23 runs from the last two overs.
With Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn to bowl, that was a tough ask.
And Elliott had a lot of luck getting there. He kept finding gaps with those skied and mistimed shots in those frantic final moments of the game.
Two fielders collided trying to get under one towering miscue.
But you need luck to win the big matches and New Zealand certain had that.
Elliott was quick to deflect attention away from himself after the match.
''I don't think this win is for myself. It's not for the team. It's for everyone. The support has been amazing,'' he told Sky Television.
''When you've got 40,000 fans screaming at you every ball . . . It's been an absolute pleasure playing in front of a home crowd.
Elliott said the Black Caps would have no problem staying calm ahead of the final, against either Australia or India, in Melbourne on Sunday.
''We've had a good run. This is the first final we've been in. We're a very level team so I think we'll approach it as any other game.''
The rain helped the New Zealand's cause as well last night. South Africa was smashing the ball everywhere when a shower interrupted the game and shaved seven overs off South Africa's innings.
Despite that, the Proteas posted 281 for five, with AB de Villiers whacking an undefeated 65 from 45 deliveries. David Miller provided a high-octane finish with 49 from 18 balls, and earlier, Faf du Plessis helped his side recover from a tough start with 82.
De Villiers missed a crucial run out of Corey Anderson which could have swung the game.
New Zealand was left chasing a revised target of 298. Brendon McCullum kept his promise to wallop everything he could get his mighty willow under on his way to an entertaining 59 from 26 balls.
That innings kept his side ahead of the game for a period, but Kane Williamson's departure and Martin Guptill's run-out helped restore some balance.
But even when Ross Taylor got an edge down the leg side and was snaffled by the keeper, you felt the win was still within reach of New Zealand.
The Black Caps just had to play sensible cricket and get the bad balls away.
The Anderson-Elliott 103-run partnership should have ended earlier in a run-out, but de Villiers fumbled the throw, broke the stumps, then fell over with the ball in hand while desperately trying to remove a stump from the ground to effect the dismissal. Anderson was on 34 and went on to score 58.
Earlier, Trent Boult got Amla with a full swinging delivery. Big wicket? Put it this way, Amla only scores an ODI hundred every 5.5 or so innings, so it was rather memorable.
Meanwhile, Quinton de Kock's answer to being beaten by Boult was to spring down the wicket and swing hard.
He only managed an edge and it carried as far as Tim Southee, who barely had to move other than close his hands around the ball and take a half step forward from the third-man boundary.
It was Boult's 21st wicket at the tournament and with it he beat Geoff Allott's (New Zealand record) haul of 20 wickets at the 1999 World Cup.
McCullum's field placements were super aggressive. At one point Boult bowled with four slips and a gully.
It was all part of the effort to avoid South Africa getting to 30 overs with seven or eight wickets in hand.
Other teams have crumbled under that pressure, but not South Africa.
Du Plessis and Rilee Rossouw put on a valuable 83 for the third wicket and achieved pretty much exactly what McCullum had been so desperate to avoid.
De Villiers had a life on 38 when he drilled a shot hard to the left of Kane Williamson at short cover. The ball blasted through his hands.
Had Williamson held that catch, well, the price was immediately evident. De Villiers (65 not out) hit the next three deliveries for six, four and four to bring up 50 from 32 balls.
