Hard News: How about that cricket, eh?
162 Responses
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No sledging. In a world of diving, cheating and drug taking, what an amazing game it was. That match, and both teams, should be held high as examples of sporting conduct at its best.
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Twitter this morning. You should have seen it last night.
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With 10 overs to go I was quietly confident.
With 5 overs to go I was resigned to losing in the semifinals for a 7th time.
For the last two overs I was on the edge of my seat, not even wanting to talk.
That has to be the best game of cricket I've seen in a long, long time.
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What Dave said.
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Definitely what Dave said ...
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Wow!
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Greg Wood, in reply to
The @BlackCaps certainly saw it... https://vine.co/v/O3zQDBzMT5h
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...and I gotta say, if you're going to hit a six off the second-to-last-ball, make it a good one. Like that one.
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I went out for an hour or so (to see a new NZ film called Jake at the Tivoli in Cambridge) after the South African innings, as I was not feeling confident. But I was back for the final hour, which was enthralling.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Ditto except for the first sentence. My quiet confidence eroded pretty much when Guptill went out. Numerically it all seemed doable, but the fact that none of the batters from then on really ever seemed to get the meat of the bat meant we kind of lagged about 20 runs behind where we needed to be. I kept thinking "hit out now...any time would be good". By the time it was 50 balls to go, it was more like "now would be good".
Which I think is a credit to the South African bowling and fielding attack. So many cracking shots were held to singles, every single one of which was never quite enough, drove the required run rate up a little more. But their mistakes were extremely costly. We scored several runs in the final overs just from running and challenging the keeper to throw down the stumps.
Elliot did a great job of keeping his nerve, sticking to a plan that he needed to hold his wicket, erode the score and wait for his eye to come it. It was a bit dramatic that it seemed like that didn't happen until his very last shot, but hey, we'll take it! Legend!
Of course I felt for SA, and ABD particularly, but they can hold heads up pretty high in producing probably the most exciting and challenging semifinal I've ever seen. They were great, but on the day, NZ was greater. No team so far has really had an answer for a captain who comes out and blazes away scoring huge run rates whilst simultaneously facing all the freshest bowlers and balls, not afraid to go out, more afraid of not trying. Best NZ team, ever.
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I honestly thought I was going to puke for the last few overs. I kept pacing around the kitchen making sure not to stray too far from the kitchen sink.
This is a fun visualisation of the #NZvSA hashtag last night. http://trendsmap.com/v/ykNe/w
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Also: American husband completely won over by this World Cup*. It can be done! One American at a time!
*He kept mixing up his cricket terminology with his baseball terminology, urging Elliot to do a "walk-off" and "call his shot like Babe Ruth", but that added an extra layer of fun to the proceedings.
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an amazing team effort, every time we lost a wicket another man stood up to take on the innings just marvelous!
I predicted at about 3pm that it would go the last over and somehow Vettori would be there
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So that was the first full game of cricket I've ever watched. I took breaks - had lots of work to do - and towards the end I set myself up with my drawing tablet in the lounge. Fuck all drawing got done. With about 100 runs to go my wife (watching it since she got home from work) scolded me for yelling at the TV. I started a demented alternative commentary on Twitter for non-cricket people to enjoy but I was too into the actual game to make a decent hash of it. Then the last 20 balls or so... I don't know if I've ever been as tense watching anything.
Then Vettori's four, and shortly afterwards, Elliot's six to finish.We both yelled at the telly.
What an amazing game. Drama even someone who's never followed cricket could completely appreciate.
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There will be people having their hearts checked at various clinics around the country today for sure...!
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My glass half empty spouse was worried about the Morkel over with the dot balls, and I said "no problem, as long as Anderson doesn't let it get to him and get out ... ".
When he went I thought the chance of victory had gone too.
When Dan came out I said to spouse "he scores in an arc of about 20 degrees behind square ..." and what a demented shot that was! Dan you are one cool cucumber!
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A fairy tale script that would look like a cliché if you wrote it down.
The final will be no trouble now, eh?
(Sadly I was reduced to following it on a ball-by-ball text feed on the internet. I've recently got back from a year in the US, and last night I finally had motivation to set up the TV... only to find Prime (along with Maori TV, RNZ...) sadly absent from my Freeview. After a frantic series of factory resets and autotuning attempts I gave up and sat with my laptop clicking Reload Current Page. Note to self: be better prepared for next moment of national sporting pride. Anyone got any suggestions about the telly?)
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Which I think is a credit to the South African bowling and fielding attack. So many cracking shots were held to singles, every single one of which was never quite enough, drove the required run rate up a little more. But their mistakes were extremely costly.
Exactly. It was the excellence of their fielding (and Morkel's bowling!) that created the pressure that almost took away New Zealand's chances of what was beginning to look like a very reachable win. But that same pressure told on them in those handful of game-changing moments.
And we should not lose sight of the fact that the rain was (mixed metaphor alert) an incredible windfall for New Zealand. Things might have been very different had we been chasing 360 in 50 overs.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Anyone got any suggestions about the telly?
If resetting and auto-tuning didn't work, it may be that your aerial is bung.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
When Dan came out I said to spouse “he scores in an arc of about 20 degrees behind square …” and what a demented shot that was!
I've seen Vettori up close, and he's a tall, athletic man. His bowling action is, of course, graceful and balanced. But he bats and runs like a goony bird. It's brilliant.
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BenWilson, in reply to
This is a fun visualisation of the #NZvSA hashtag last night
It explodes at about 11pm. Neat! Particularly in India. The end was good timing for India - just as they would have been getting home from work.
It may be somewhat traitorous of me to the region and my wife, but I'm going for India today. They're the team to beat, crushed SA at the G, and as the sole remaining representative of a region that did so well this tournament, it's good for the game.
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Emma Hart, in reply to
And we should not lose sight of the fact that the rain was (mixed metaphor alert) an incredible windfall for New Zealand. Things might have been very different had we been chasing 360 in 50 overs.
It's never great when a result is affected by weather, and SA had been devastated by rain-affected games twice in the past. That said, they knew the rain was in the forecast, and they won the toss and decided to bat first anyway. They could have been the team batting second with the D/L run-rates in their pockets. It was a gamble.
At the beginning of this World Cup, my bet was that we'd be knocked out in the semis. I also thought SA were the best team in the competition as a team - less fragile, less dependent on one or two great players, better attitude which always shows in the field. I did not think we were going to beat them.
I got off the couch for the last over and watched it crouched down behind the coffee table. True story.
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Emma Hart, in reply to
It may be somewhat traitorous of me to the region and my wife, but I’m going for India today.
Dude. We support NZ, and anyone playing Australia.
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Shaun Lott, in reply to
If resetting and auto-tuning didn’t work, it may be that your aerial is bung.
Well, maybe... It picks up the shopping channels just fine, though.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Anyone got any suggestions about the telly?
Not about the telly, but if you're desperate, I've had to watch every game up until now on WatchCric.net. It's not a nice option, low res and full of ads and popups, but it works.
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