New Zealand Hand South Africa Shock Defeat in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Quarterfinal

South Africa failed to get past the knock hurdle while New Zealand kept their date with history and World Cup semi final date in a dramatic and shocking ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 quarterfinal in Bangladesh.

nathan mccullum v sa

In hindsight, it would boil down to the fact that South Africa's bowlers were not able to do what they have done in the tournament thus far - bowl out all the six teams they faced - and their batsmen did not do what they did all along - one of the top class batsmen making a huge contribution. While it would be harsh on the bowlers, their batsmen must take full responsibility for the disappointment of the day.

The partnership between Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor was criticized and condemned for being slow. However, it would seem that the 114 run partnership for the third wicket after New Zealand were reduced to two down for sixteen. Ryder's eighty-three and Taylor's forty-three were critical from keeping the South African bowlers at bay as the South African captain, Graeme Smith, brought in all three spinners for the match.

Unfortunately Smith did not win the toss and therefore, it meant that his bowlers were unable to exploit the slower nature of the pitch in the second half of the match. Just when their patience was wearing thin, South Africa got a reprieve and the wickets began to come their way again through Morne Morkel to halt New Zealand, but not enough.

Kane Williamson showed maturity beyond his age, batting crucially for thirty-eight runs that in the end made a world of difference for New Zealand as they won this match over by forty-nine runs.

South Africa, in response, had only to play out the innings and they would have been as good to victory as any other strategy. Instead, South Africa's cool heads disappeared with the score on 121, leaving South Africa will half the distance still to go chasing 222 and their in form batsmen back in the pavilion.

Hashim Amla was unluckily dismissed caught at first slip after the ball he nicked ricocheted off the wicket keeper's boot. Graeme Smith failed to find that final swansong like Ricky Ponting. However, with Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, it was expected that South Africa would coast across the winning line and it did seem that way until Kallis was caught brilliantly close to the boundary by Jacob Oram with the score on 108.

Oram then turned it on with the ball as did Nathan McCullum. South Africa struggled to rotate strike with JP Duminy playing a nothing shot, the panic appeared to have set in because on the same score of 121, South Africa lost their fifth wicket through a terrible run out of AB de Villiers by the new batsman, Faf du Plessis.

New Zealand pumped Faf with a verbal-physical spar, trying to put him under pressure not only for that horrific run out but also, at the stage where South Africa lost all their batsmen barring him to score the remaining hundred runs. Forty-seven runs for Kallis, thirty-five runs for AB were not going to be enough on a pitch where a settled batsman needed to take the team through.

Faf's resistance with the lower order reduced the deficit to forty-nine runs, but it was just too much left too late for a lower order to fill a role on a pitch that the best batsmen would have struggled to get going. South Africa will be in a state of shock.