March 23, 2015
Cricketing history will be made at
Eden Park in Auckland on Tuesday when New Zealand and South Africa get the
semi-final stage of the tournament underway.
Neither country has ever managed to
make it past this hurdle to a World Cup final, so it will be new ground for one
of them after Tuesday’s match in front of what’s sure to be a packed crowd.
Nine times these two teams have
previously made it to this stage – six for New Zealand (1975, 1979, 1992, 1999,
2007, 2011) and three for South Africa (1992, 1999, 2007).
The competition, which began back on
February 14, is down to the final four, with India to take on Australia in the
other semi-final on Thursday.
New Zealand, known as the Black
Caps, has been perhaps the most impressive side all tournament long.
The Kiwis strolled past Sri Lanka,
Scotland, England, Afghanistan and Bangladesh during the group stage, with
their only struggle a thrilling one-wicket win over fellow co-hosts Australia.
They then dismantled the West Indies
in the quarter-finals, led by Martin Guptill’s record-breaking 237 not out.
Despite some unwanted history at
this stage of the World Cup, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum says his team
is excited for the semi-final to commence.
“Any game you play, some get more
nervous than others,” he said. “But the general feeling is that we can’t wait
to get out there and test our skills against a very good South African team and
in a crunch game.
“The way we dealt with the
expectations of the last game should hold is us in reasonable stead.”
South Africa, a team known as the
Proteas, hasn’t found things quite so straightforward. Victories over Zimbabwe,
the West Indies, Ireland and United Arab Emirates were tempered by defeats
against India and Pakistan.
Yet the South Africans clicked into
gear in the quarter-finals, thrashing Sri Lanka by nine wickets. Proteas
captain AB de Villiers knows New Zealand is playing well, but believes his team
has the tools to win.
“It would be silly to focus too much
on the cricket they’ve played,” he said. “They’ve played really well, but if we
play to our full potential, no one is going to stop us.”
The other match will be held in
Sydney between Australia and India, teams sitting first and second respectively
in the ICC world rankings.
The Australians proved far too
strong in undefeated Test and one-day series against India prior to the
tournament getting underway.
But defending champion India has
rediscovered its form and swagger and it shapes up as an epic contest at the
Sydney Cricket Ground.
- by @jamesdampney23
- See more at: http://discover.mig.me/2015/03/23/history-beckons-world-cup-semi-finals-aud365/?isLoggedIn=0#sthash.VWkVvM3C.dpuf
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