The semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa drew up a smorgasbord of eyebrow raisers. Glenn Phillips, of all people, dropped a regulation catch while Rachin Ravindra recreated Herschelle Gibbs’ infamous drop of Steve Waugh. Wicketkeeper Tim Seifert copped a 143kmph thunderbolt on the nose. Cole McConchie, added to the T20 World Cup squad as a travelling reserve after an injury to Michael Bracewell, eyed a hat-trick in his first over. Marco Jansen was Proteas’ top-scorer, Finn Allen cudgeled a century off 33 balls and Keshav Maharaj never got to bowl to right-handers in the PowerPlay as the best bowling side of the tournament conceded an opening partnership worth 117.

It was a game chock full of remarkable events that flew in the face of conventional wisdom, a three-hour spectacle going against the grain to emphasize cricket’s moniker as a funny old sport. Otherwise how do you explain a unit brimming with belief after seven wins in a row coming up with the lamest performance when it matters the most? On the other hand, a team which wasn’t even the author of its own fortune heading into the knockouts and carried a 0-5 competition record against the rainbow nation winning in the most emphatic style? Captains often resort to the hackneyed cliche ahead of do-or-die encounters: history dwarfs into irrelevance and execution on the big day counts. Nerves have a bearing on the frontal cortex, with pressure and high stakes adding a lumbersome layer of difficulty to the real challenge on field.

Head coach Shukri Conrad was blunt in his assessment. “I don’t know if tonight was a choke. I thought it was a bloody walloping. I think in order for you to choke, you must have had a sniff in the game. We didn’t have a sniff. In South Africa, we say we got moered snotklap, a local phrase meaning a real hiding.”

Contrary to his review, South Africa may have had a glimmer of hope when Jansen engaged his long levers. 77/5 at the halfway stage, the all-rounder hit the ball clean as a whistle to drag the total to 169/8. It wasn’t his first rodeo with the bat, for he’s made a habit of contributing lower down the order. His six-studded 75*(42) during a 151-run seventh-wicket partnership with Heinrich Klaasen against England in the 2023 World Cup has been backed up by match-defining knocks for Sunrisers Eastern Cape. In the inaugural season, Jansen climbed into Rashid Khan of MI Cape Town. In the next, Paarl Royals bore the brunt of his power-hitting abilities after a promotion to number four on a dicey track.

His 93 versus India in the second Test in Guwahati was, according to Jansen, a springboard for his success in the subcontinent. “Before that, I didn’t really have confidence. The only thing I had was my mental strength and the desire to actually go out and score runs,” he’d commented.

Aspirations must’ve also gone up, along with the ball, when Kagiso Rabada hustled Seifert on the pull but miscommunication between the backpedalling Quinton de Kock and Dewald Brevis at fine leg denied South Africa an early breakthrough. Defending a par score, having witnessed the consecutive mishits McConchie produced upfront on a dry surface, Markram held Maharaj back for reasons unbeknownst to the cricketing intelligentsia. He persisted with pace even though a lofted straight punch from Seifert and a dismissive slap over backward point from Allen exemplified just how much they appreciate being given pace to work with on a small ground featuring a fast outfield. By the time the goofy match-up played out, both were right in their element as Maharaj ended up with an economy of 11. His counterpart Rachin Ravindra redeemed himself for the snafu at short mid-wicket with two wickets in an over, including the in-form Markram for an exacting 18(20).

‘’We were able to keep chipping wickets away through the middle and then, you know, Tristan Stubbs and Jansen obviously played a great knock to get them into 170,’’ Mitchell Santner said. ‘’It was nice to watch the chase. I’m not gonna lie. I guess we were very happy with the 170, but you never know, like wickets in the power play, there’s always a question, but the openers kind of just went out there and played their game and took it on, which was cool to see. And, I think, that opening partnership you get through a powerplay, no doubt, it puts you in a pretty good position. And then obviously, Finn just carried on. It’d be nice if we could repeat this in the final.’’

Another bone of contention in the head-scratching fixture was the catch of David Miller at long-off by Daryl Mitchell. The wide line tempted the southpaw into a hoick and the chance was converted but the replays didn’t paint a very convincing picture. His fingers were underneath the ball, as per third umpire Nitin Menon, but different angles suggested that the leather might have briefly come in contact with the ground. It was a close shave that went New Zealand’s way, not in the least surprising because everything they touched in Kolkata turned to gold. Right from the flip of the coin on a venue notorious for chasing dominance to the epilogue where ample runs remained in the equation for Allen to mastermind his way to three figures.

“I think you look at conditions and they bowled really well from the outset,’’ Markram pointed out. ‘’Ball didn’t quite feel like coming on, some were just stopping on the wicket and some were hitting quite low on the bat and they made scoring really tough and through that pressure builds and you lose wickets unfortunately. So give credit to their bowling unit and obviously with the bat, someone plays an innings like that, don’t think you will come out on the right side of the result many times as a fielding team.’’

He wore a dejected look as fireworks exploded in the capital of West Bengal, although the IPL franchise hailing from the state would certainly be on the other end of the emotional spectrum, having secured the services of Allen and Seifert for an aggregate of 3.5 crores.

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