Cricket: What a night as Kiwis triumph

Grant Elliott celebrates his game-winning six in last night's Black Caps' victory over South...
Grant Elliott celebrates his game-winning six in last night's Black Caps' victory over South Africa. Photo by Reuters.

It was a cricket match for the ages - topsy-turvy, thrilling and with New Zealand winning off the second-last ball with a soaring six.

None of the 41,279 fans in the crowd will forget this World Cup 50-over semifinal for a very long time.

They yelled, cheered and clapped. And they stayed to hear their heroes speak.

As Captain Fantastic Brendon McCullum said: ''We gave ourselves a chance at World Cup glory.''

The final, against Australia or India, is in Melbourne on Sunday.

McCullum's opposite, South African captain AB de Villiers, said his team had its chances. ''It's hurting quite a bit.''

Man of the match, South African-born Grant Elliott, said nothing was going on his mind when he hit the winning shot.

''I don't even know where the ball went.''

As he hit the winning six, he let out a roar and the crowd roared with him.

If the tension at the ground did not leave you stunned, then the oohs and arrghs were certainly loud enough to push most thoughts from your mind.

All that remained was: That's out! How did that miss the stumps? How far did he hit that? How many do we need? Did Grant Elliott just smoke Dale Steyn for six to seal a four-wicket win against South Africa in the semifinal of the World Cup?

Yes. Yes, he did.

Elliott's wonderful undefeated knock of 84, his crucial 103-run partnership with Corey Anderson, and McCullum's whirlwind 59 from 26 delivered the Black Caps their first semifinal victory in seven attempts.

Whatever happens in the final, the nation has been absolutely gripped by the Black Caps' progress through the tournament and it showed that love last night.

Trent Boult was clapped all the way to the crease in the same way people used to applaud Sir Richard Hadlee when he was skipping in to bowl.

And the veteran Daniel Vettori could do no wrong, either. When he ran the best part of 50m and pulled out a dive to save a boundary and, well, just one run, the crowd thundered.

Vettori was practically the only fielder in the outfield with four standing in the slips and one at gully.

That's McCullum for you. The New Zealand skipper is all attack, attack, attack and the country adores him for it.

He plays cricket the way every child imagines playing the game.

The Proteas had their innings cut to 43 overs thanks to ill-timed rain.

They still managed to post 281 for five but you got the feeling the rain came at the right time for the home side.

New Zealand's revised Duckworth-Lewis target of 298 off 43 overs could have been a lot worse.

- Additional reporting Staff Reporter

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