It was the match of the ‘chokers’. Fortune favours
the brave, theoretically atleast that’s how it is put across. After watching the
Tuesday’s semifinal, yours truly took the knife out for a post-mortem as to
which among the two teams were brave enough for the fortune to swing their way
and what differently did New Zealand do for the lady luck to be smiling on
their side at the end of it all. One thing: The blunders from both the teams
made the match one of the wonders of the ongoing WC.
Let’s rewind to 6:00am (IST) on 24/32015 and
the sequence of errors from both teams that marked the match.
Ø ABD wins the
toss and decides to bat first. So there was no pressure of chasing, which had earned
the Proteas ‘Chokers’ tag.
Ø Boult has
been the bowler of the series so far. 2nd over of the day, got the
edge of an out of form Quinton de Kock. And
put down by Ronchi! Oh!! Lady
luck with South Africa finally. #Gogreen should be the norm.
Ø Soon, Amla skies one over the top off Southee and falls narrowly
short of a diving Boult at fine leg.
That’s it, for sure ABD has fortune by his side.
Ø By 7:15am, SA two down! Kiwis in
red-hot form with four slips and gully! Baz
on the charge with his black caps. The mind thinks 151 and Australia. Is
that on the cards?
Ø When was the last time one saw Daniel Vettori bowl a wide four down the legs of a batsmen? For now, it was the
semifinal of the 2015 WC. Off day for Vettori, who had been chasing leather in
the previous over?
Ø Roussow and Faf kept going and Williamson and
Grant Elliott were introduced in the half-way mark stage. Pressure. Brendon
McCullum for the first time had to think about reserving his strike bowlers for
the ABD assault.
Ø You think 400 on the cards! Suddenly
the ‘two toes’ Guptill flies one and pulls off
a stunner with two fingers at point. 237* and now a ripper. This is going to
Guptill’s night. He is going to see the Kiwis through
Ø ABD – first ball
– Dear! Shuffles across and tries to dab one to fine leg. Ball catches the
gloves and fortunately the ball goes over the stumps and on to the keeper. Skipper
set for the charge and he does.
Ø 35th over: Powerplay – A slap
through the covers from ABD. The ball in the air. A flying Williamson puts it down off Anderson. ‘You dropped the cup
mate’ moment . Expect ABD to score 150+ in the next 60 balls. And was
batting like set for such an innings
Ø RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! – Nerves in the SA dressing room. Auckland
weather rescues NZ, shortened game and SA never go hand in hand.
Ø Play resumes: KILLER MILLER has surely nailed McCullum & Co. with his ‘in the arc out of the park and in the V out into the tree’ stuff.
10-minute break
Ø ABD & Co. have the luxury of knowing that if the Kiwis
are to win, it would be a record chase and chasing 298 in 43 overs in a SF is
no joke. But McCullum felt so it was
actually a joke.
Ø Baz blasts 59 off 26 balls six overs – 71 runs. And
for sure the Proteas have choked much early than the expectations were.
Ø Tahir bamboozles Guptill in the PP. Morkel gets rid of McCullum and Williamson.
Panic sets in the Kiwi batting unit. This is South Africa’s moment.
Ø But a ‘part-timer’ Duminy, who took a hat-trick in the QF against Lanka, ensures Ross Taylor finds
his feet. Head down and Guptill is up and running with a six!
Ø How could one get Guptill out? Run him out. And it did happen. Amla
strikes on the field. Guptill is out. And Taylor joins Guptill in the dressing
room later.
Ø Anderson and Elliott. Stats say NZ have never lost when Anderson scores in excess of 30. He
was on 33. And Proteas failed to capitalize on an opportunity to rewrite
history. When ABD missed a chance and by now you can visualize the moment. Mr. ABD the bus has left.
Ø Still the Kiwis GRANTed SA another
chance. Maybe they pitied at SA. De Kock
was in such a hurry to see the red light flash, he failed to collect the ball! –
Grant Elliott survived. And South Africa were crest fallen!
Ø The skier which Faf held on to off
Anderson was nullified by this error. After 8 hours, there was no guessing who
the winners would be and one couldn’t decide who were the fortuitous ones.
Ø Even as Elliott’s slogged and balls
started landing in between three converging SA fielders, Ronchi found the lone
fielder at deep square-leg Rossouw, who took it as if his last breath depended
on it
Ø Sprawling dives, some necessary and
some showed the nerves, from South African fielders ensured the equation came
down to 14 off 7 balls.
Ø Probably the choke moment of the day,
Elliott took the aerial route and thank you South Africa. – Duminy and Behardien
stared at each other. ‘You surely dropped the cup’
Ø But still, still and still….Steyn
bowled two crackers to give just two off two balls and NZ needed 10 off 4
balls.
Ø History, stats, search….Steyn had defended a few in the last T20 WC against the same
opposition. But this time he was suffering from cramps or a hamstring pull.
Ø Boossss…Ahhhhss..from the crowd.
Ø Vettori –
who had struck a six to put NZ through against Bangladesh, whose leaping left
hand saw the back of a dangerous Marlon Samuels in the QF – with his typical trigger
movement and as the flashing blade made contact the ball the roof came down.
FOUR! Six needed but 5 for NZ to seal final berth
Ø 1999 WC – No tie please. Scamper for a bye to the keeper. De kock twice missed to hit the
stumps in the same over.
Ø 2 balls 5 to win. Still no favourites.
Tim Southee under the helmet. Cameraman was spot on to catch the tension in the
Kiwi dug out.
Ø Steyn to Elliott - BOOM! Six…Finally
NZ won.
So – Who deserved to
be in the final? Who was brave enough for the fortune to smile at them? Fortunately
or unfortunately came up with no reason! Still, figuring it out.
- S. BAGAWATI PRASAD
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