AB glad to finish on right side,for a change

Unlike instances in the past where South Africa were caught unaware of the Duckworth-Lewis situation,AB de Villiers said his men

Unlike instances in the past where South Africa were caught unaware of the Duckworth-Lewis situation,AB de Villiers said his men realised exactly what was going on when Kieron Pollard was dismissed. The Duckworth-Lewis was on the scoreboard the whole time,which made it quite easy for us to follow and to sort of plan. But what made it very difficult at that time,it was raining up to that point for the last half an hour prior to that,so it made it really difficult to know when exactly the umpire was going to call it. I was hoping theyd make the call about 15 minutes before then,but I think we got the bounce of the ball today,and well take that bit of luck and go into the semi-finals with it, he said after the match.

De Villiers said relief was the overwhelming feeling on winning a close contest in a major event. It feels great. Weve been on the wrong side of these kind of matches in the past quite a few times,and Ive been part of a few teams thats been on the wrong side of these kind of matches. Very happy, he said.

The return of Dale Steyn,who missed the first two games through injury,was a boost for the skipper as well. Its great to have Dale back. Hes definitely an X factor for us. I called on him at a few times today,especially the last spell into the wind,and he picked up a vital wicket for us, said the captain. Weve got a lot of support from back home,and I believe they believe we can win it,and I know we can, he added.

Despite the narrow loss Dwayne Bravo said there was no need to point fingers,either at Pollard or the umpires for what had happened. Im disappointed with how the game ended,but Im not disappointed over what the umpires did. They have a job to do and they do it to the best of their ability8230; No reason for us to actually blame or point fingers on anyone, he said.

Bravo said that the idea was to be within striking range of the D/L par score during the chase. We always thought that 230-odd on a small ground with a fast outfield,we always back ourselves actually to get right back into the game. Up until the last up to when Kieron got out,we were right there within striking range8230;one run behind or something like that, he said.

Considering the game was headed for a close finish and the stakes were high,with progress to the semis dependent on the result,Bravo said the umpires could perhaps have allowed the game to go on for a bit more. I think it would have been fair for both teams and to the fans and to the tournament if that extra ball had been bowled or something like that, he said.