Thaindian News

Dhaka, March 26 (IANS) Jesse Ryder and Jacob Oram plotted to defy conventional wisdom in inspiring New Zealand to outplay South Africa in all departments of the game and enter the World Cup semi-final with a 49-run victory here Friday.

The Black Caps batted sensibly, bowled intelligently and fielded brilliantly to back their captain Daniel Vettori’s astute planning. They literally choked the Proteas, even though they were defending only 221 runs which in the end proved too many. The Kiwis owe it to Ryder to get them a modest, yet a fighting score.

The twist was as unexpected as it was shocking. Cruising at 108-2 in the 25th over, the South Africans lost old warhorse Jacques Kallis (47), and 64 runs and 116 balls later it was all over as a holiday crowd of over 22,000 watched in awe at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

It was Kallis’ dismissal that triggered the procession of his teammates though it was the result of a fantastic catch. Nobody could have imagined Jacob Oram to pluck the ball out of thin air running full tilt on the boundary. Oram did his bit as a bowler to capture four wickets for 39 runs and took another catch, too, to be adjudged Man of the Match.

The Proteas folded for 172 in 43.2 overs — their batsmen going needlessly for adventurous shots, a run out borne out of an error of judgment and some good bowling from the Black Caps all combined to produce the thriller.

Earlier in the day, Ryder struck a responsible 83 as New Zealand recovered from early tremors and a middle-order slump to set South Africa a not-so-difficult asking rate of 4.42 runs an over.

On a ground where they had lost to the lesser known Bangladesh 0-4 only five months ago, the Black Caps played with intensity and tremendous willpower to put it across the highly rated side and reached their sixth World Cup semi-final.

They would now clash with the winners of Saturday’s Sri Lanka-England quarterfinal in Colombo March 29 for a place in the final which has somehow eluded them so far in the 36 years of World Cup history.

The South Africans had a poor start with Hashim Amla (7) going for a cut, and edging the ball on to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum’s foot and Daniel Vettori took the rebound at first slip. Brendon’s brother Nathan McCullum (3/24) was the bowler.

Skipper Graeme Smith (28) and Kallis then put on 61 for the second wicket before the South African captain fell in the 15th over. With 45 as his highest, the 2011 World Cup turned out to be a forgettable World Cup for Smith, for whom this was his last ODI as the captain.

Once Kallis got out trying to hit Tim Southie out of the ground off a short delivery, the script changed completely. Kallis and AB de Villiers (35) were involved in a 39 runs stand for the third wicket.

Jean-Paul Duminy (3) missed an attempted cut off McCullum to see his stumps disturbed and South Africa were reduced to 121-4 in 27.4 overs.

Two balls later, Faf du Plessis called AB de Villers, who responded looking for a non-existent run and the South African wicketkeeper batsman fell short of the crease.

Oram then got into the act by removing Johan Botha (2) and Robin Peterson (0) in back-to-back overs. Botha misjudged the line while Peterson went for a mighty heave only to be caught behind.

When Steyn departed to a magnificent catch from Oram, South Africa had lost six wickets within 38 runs, but Plessis (36, 3×4, 1×6) briefly lifted his teams’ hopes of turning the match around with a 26-run stand for the ninth wicket with Morne Morkel (3). But once Plessis left, giving Oram his fourth wicket, the last flicker of hope of South African revival had crashed into river Padma.

Woodcock ended South Africa’s misery by sending Morkel (3) back to set off a New Zealand party right out in the middle. The Black Caps hugged each other and even their stoic-looking coach John Wright ran onto the park.

In the afternoon, Ryder and Ross Taylor (43) steadied the ship with a 114-run third wicket stand after the Black Caps seemed in trouble at 16/2 with both their in-form openers Brendon McCullum (4) and Martin Guptill (1) back in the pavilion inside six overs.

Ryder initially seemed tentative on the slow surface but gained in confidence as the innings progressed to get his first half century of the tournament.

Leggie Imran Tahir finally got rid of Taylor with a flighted delivery, inducing a mistimed sweep that ballooned to Jacques Kallis at deep square leg.

Scott Styris (16) struck three boundaries, but perished bottom edging on to the stumps in a bid to step up the run flow. New Zealand were then 153/4 in 37.2 overs.

Tahir took the big wicket of Ryder in the next over as the Wellington-born player went for a wild hit that ended in the hands of substitute Collin Ingram at deep mid wicket. Ryder’s 121-ball knock included eight boundaries.

For South Africa, pacers Morne Morkel (3/46) and Dale Steyn (2/42), who returned to the team after being rested in their last group game against Bangladesh, got the bulk of the wickets, while Tahir chipped in with 2 for 32 to take his tally to 14 wickets in the competition.