World View

So now they deserve a meaty pat on the back. In beating South Africa to make the World Cup semi-finals they confounded all pre-game predictions.

If you want to pick holes,it wasn8217;t the perfect display. A couple of key batsmen gifted their wickets away,and they weren8217;t as adept as rotating the strike as any manual on best cricket tactics would suggest. It was a win based on resolute qualities,with tons of heart.

The one black mark was the verbal spat when Francois du Plessis was awaiting a red light on de Villiers run out.

Aggression is important as long as it8217;s controlled. New Zealand8217;s players earn some slack on the incident as emotions were clearly running high.

But it was ugly. Pointing out to du Plessis that he8217;d effectively tossed away the game is fine,but Kyle Mills,who was not even in the XI,had no place getting involved when the verbal sparks were flying. Hefty fines were handed out to Mills,Vettori and du Plessis,and justified,too. This is not to defend the poor put-upon du Plessis. South Africans are well capable of looking after themselves and they8217;ve never been afraid to impart some wisdom to opponents when things are getting crunchy.

DAVID LEGGAT,NEW ZEALAND HERALD