That's it from us today, we are down to five teams and around this time tomorrow, we will be down to four. This is has been a cracker of a World Cup and England are playing tomorrow. Reason enough to expect some more edge of the seat action! That's it from is for today, on behalf of Sid Ravindran and everyone else, this is Nitin Sundar bolting the kitchen sink back in place. Cheers and bye!
The post-mortem will begin for South Africa. Once again. Read all about how things unfolded today, in Sriram Veera's bulletin. There will be plenty more from Firdose Moonda and Osman Samiuddin later in the night, so do stay tuned in.
New Zealand march into the semis once again. They have got to be the one team that lifts itself most for World Cups. And that too, coming off a horror run prior to the World Cup. Well done, Vettori and co.
Rain in 1992. Lara in 1996. Madness in 1999. Rain and madness in 2003. Madness and pressure today. South Africa's list of World Cup tragedies just got longer. One has got to feel for them, they have been among the best teams in non-ICC tournaments.
Amar: "I will credit this win to John Wright. If NZ win the Semis too, Wright will become the first coach to take two different International sides to Finals!"
Fireworks in Mirpur, to mark the end of Bangladesh's hosting role in this World Cup. Barring the stone-throwing incident, they have been worthy hosts. Take a bow, Bangladesh!
Raman: "After watching these extremely thrilling contests in WC so far, who wanted lifeless bang-bang T20?"
Ayan: "Have the Kiwis set their eyes on all the 'Green' opponents they face...?"
Presentations
Oram is the Man of the Match for being everywhere, with the ball and on the field. "Thanfully I was tall enough and managed to get there for the Kallis caught. I don't want to take credit for that one, but I suppose Kallis' dismissal was the turning point of the match. Its so hard when you are injured continuously to get any rhythm, so the feeling has been better to be on the field. We believe we can go all the way now. This is among the best moments in my career, another one is beating South Africa in the 2003 World Cup."
Vettori: "Every single bowler stepped up today, and probably it was the fielding that got us through. Martin Guptill was exceptional. Once we got 220, we knew we had to be aggressive. We were hanging in there even when Kallis and AB were going. We wanted 250 on this pitch. We lost some wickets, and scrapped through to 220. We knew it was a tricky wicket, and knew it was going to be an old-school one-day game. That's the sort of game we like to play. Once we got de Villiers and Kallis, we were back in it. The run out of de Villiers was an amazing piece of work. We are pretty happy to be in the semis, and will be glued to the tv to see how the wicket in Colombo plays tomorrow."
Smith: "No words to describe how I feel. Just have to take it on the chin.. Very disappointing evening. I thought we bowled pretty well. Credit to Jesse Ryder. At 100 for 2, we were sitting well, and then we lost too many wickets. The stand between Jesse and Taylor kept them in good stead, but we kept them to 220, which is very gettable. We lost too many wickets.. Your guess is as good as mine (as to why we keep losing in World Cup knockouts), its been happening since 1992. We have got some big positives out of the World Cup. We weren't good enough tonight, but we have to take it forward and not get bogged down. New coach and new captain ... We are disappointed with tonight, and nothing I say is going to change that for fans back home."
Chandan: "SA will now have 25 letters instead of 26... they are going to omit the letter 'c'"
Naveen: "Two great champions knocked out of World Cups in 2 days. We'll miss you, Ponting and Kallis."
Hamza: "With Safrica out, I really think the World Cup winner will be decided in Mohali, not Mumbai."
KiQa55: "'Asphyxiated'. Ha. Clever. No 'c' words here."
Prasad: "Boy: this must rank as one of the biggest upsets...like robin soderling beating rafa nadal in the french open in 2009! Kudos to NZ."
Nathan McCullum: "Fantastic result. Jesse showed some great character, the way we bowled and fielded was outstanding. When you defend a score like that, we need to do almost everything right. The standards from Guppy and some of the others was outstanding. The crowd was cheering us for some great cricket, and it was great to come out on the right side. Can't wait for the semi-finals."
The Black Caps huddle together like excited schoolboys. Vettori, Oram, Guptill, they have all been at their best on the field. Strength to them, for having turned things around in one of the venues where they were depressingly hammered by Bangladesh, not too long ago. Smith looks completely distraught. What a tragic end to his memorable stint as South Africa's one-day captain.
Unrelated fact - this is the first World Cup game that did not have a single decision reviewed. Well done, umpires!
M Morkel c sub (JM How) b Woodcock 3 (30m 17b 0x4 0x6) SR: 17.64
Woodcock returns.
END OF OVER:43 | 8 Runs 1 Wkt | SA: 172/9 (50 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 4.00, RRR: 7.14)
- Imran Tahir0 (1b)
- Morne Morkel3 (15b)
- Jacob Oram9-1-39-4
- Tim Southee9-0-44-1
Tahir is the last man. Oram needs one more for a Michelle. Widish slip waits.
F du Plessis c Southee b Oram 36 (70m 43b 3x4 1x6) SR: 83.72
END OF OVER:42 | 3 Runs | SA: 164/8 (58 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 3.90, RRR: 7.25)
- Morne Morkel3 (14b)
- Faf du Plessis29 (39b)
- Tim Southee9-0-44-1
- Daniel Vettori10-0-39-0
Swapnil: "SA needs a miracle of SRINATH-KUMBLE proportions from the Titan Cup"
Vardhan: "Things look very messy, but SA still have du Plessis "