Was it the Rain ? Was it the Duckworth Lewis ? NO, It was the PRESSURE

South African had planned the day perfectly, when Faf Du Plessis played the Sheet-Anchor role to perfection. AB De Villiers was playing like a man Possessed. The Openers could not make it count, but Rilee Rossouw along with Faf was setting it up for the likes of ABD and Millers to pick it up. The first challenge was obviously the Rain, which demanded a different approach from ABD when they walked out after rain break, which lasted for an hour and half. Yet, South Africans responded brilliantly, when ABD and Miller utilised the 5 overs to the fullest extent and posted 281 for 5 at the end of 43 overs.

Brendon Macullum set up the chase brilliantly with his blitzkrieg of 59 from 26 balls. He ensured that NZ could plan their chase after him, as the Required run rate was brought down to 6.5 runs when he got out. Considering the small ground size, they were in the run chase and it was always a matter of one good partnership, which eventually came from Elliot and Corey Anderson. In spite of Ross Taylor trying to spoil the party by running out Martin Guptill and failing once again, New Zealand could pull it off, as their asking rate did not jump way too high. Such was the impact of Brendon Macullum's innings. Corey Anderson played his part brilliantly when he stitched a hundred run partnership with Elliot.

Last 5 overs was when, the pressure of a semi final encounter crept in and RSA fumbled too many chances to end up on losing side. Faf Du Plessis' catch to dismiss Corey Anderson was such a high pressure catch, that RSA team felt that they turned the tables in their favour. But, Vettori and Elliot used their experience to stay calm and pull it off for New Zealand. One could discuss each of the missed chances from South Africa and analyse in detail, as to why and how, but it was all pressure and South Africans could not handle it. Even ABD, the man who could do nothing wrong in a cricketing field, fell a prey to the P Word.

South Africans would be hard done by, after New Zealand successfully chased 298 in reduced overs. DL method helped South africans much against the scenarios that existed in the past. One could argue that South Africans would have gone past 360, had it been full quota of 50 overs. But this RSA team challenged all the hurdles that came along and only the semi finals pressure got the better of them. Of course, New Zealand had the benefit of playing the match in their home ground, Auckland Eden Park and they were cheered for every one during their chase, but South African fielding efforts pushed New Zealand right to the limits.

Whether Duckworth and Lewis would have predicted such an onslaught from David Miller and ABD in those 5 overs after the Rain ? These two could only add 18 runs to the overall total and gave New Zealand a revised target of 299 runs from rain reduced overs of 43. New Zealand had the benefit of planning their chase without having to worry about Rain or any other hurdles, which South africans were obviously deprived of. Just like how Statistics are sometimes irrelevant, one feels that DL method is also a formula, which never understands cricketing complexities, with due credits to the effort in coming up with a formula. Unless a better alternative comes up, DL method is there to stay....

The Crowd witnessed a great Semi final along with the world, who stuck to their television and at the end of the day, the game of cricket won more than New Zealand and South African team won the hearts of millions across the world, when their tears told the world, the amount of pressure a player goes through in those tense moments. The crucial catches dropped and Run outs missed were testimony to the pressure that RSA team went through. One cannot say that Matthew Elliot from New Zealand was completely in control of things, as the pressure got into his nerves too, when he mistimed those pull shots and tried to run himself out once and almost ran Vettori out, when he turned off a single.

On the day, South Africans were a better team and New Zealand won it and It's a cruel sport for South Africans considering it is yet another Semi final loss. Heart goes out to the South Africans, who gave us a wonderful Semi Final, just like 1999 semi final clash against Australians. May be they do not need a trophy to prove to the world that they are a team to beat on any given day. India's world cup 2015 campaign started off really well, when they beat South Africa in their 2nd match. They have always been the best, right from their 1st world cup campaign in 1992 till date and may be Trophy is for other teams to prove to the world that they are champions, but not for South Africans. Thank you South African cricket team for making this game a tough one for Trophy holders. It will not elude you for long........