Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith says ultimately New Zealand was the better team in the semi-final and have been the better team in the tournament thus far.
When it was clear that Australia were about to defeat New Zealand in the 2003 rugby union World Cup semi-final, then Australian scrum-half, George Gregan, was caught on camera mouthing the words “four more years” to his All Black counterpart, Byron Kelleher. That semi-final defeat would condemn New Zealand to at least a 20 year wait for their second World Cup trophy. It eventually did come but only in 2011, 24 years after their first title.
Today the Proteas left Eden Park knowing that they would have to wait another four years to lift their first World Cup trophy.
Grant Elliot was capped by South Africa at representative level in the late nineties and scored a magnificent double-hundred for South Africa Under-19s against England Under-19s in a Youth Test at Newlands. He took a leap of faith to continue his career in New Zealand in his early twenties which was validated when he was capped by his adopted country in all three formats of the game.
By his own admission his international career has been chequered but one constant throughout his career has been that of his temperament. It was this quality that earned him selection in the World Cup squad ahead of the more talented but more temperamental, Jimmy Neesham. Credit must go to the New Zealand selectors for making the hard decision and opting for temperament ahead of talent. Today he played the innings that will define his career on the biggest stage possible.
There have been comparisons between this match with the 1999 World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Australia due to the fluctuating nature of the game. The 1999 semi-final is widely regarded as the greatest One-Day International ever played and this fixture definitely pushed it close.
