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South Africa, which needed to win this match to ensure safe passage into the semis, at last found their early order batsmen running into a rich vein of form. Up until now, the opening pair had not exactly set anything on fire, with runs having to come from the wrong end of the order. That aberration was corrected.

It must have come as a great relief to Hansie Cronje, to see Gary Kirsten finally getting some runs off his bat. Kirsten, who had scored 188 in a single World Cup match in 1996, had found runs hard to come by in this tournament. He had been struggling all summer, but it was to the credit of his team management that the opening positions were not tampered with. He was given ample opportunities to rehabilitate himself, particularly in view of the need for an experienced hand at the top for the crunch matches that now lie ahead. He more than repaid that trust yesterday.

In the company of the young Herschelle Gibbs, who too has been searching for runs, Kirsten put on the biggest opening partnership in this competition. The New Zealand attack, with the exception of Geoff Allott, is pretty thin at the best of times, and the South Africans exposed every single limitation of the Kiwi bowling. Stephen Fleming has not acquitted himself as a thinking captain thus far. Against the South Africans his poverty of imagination cost the team hugely. Fleming is what is euphemistically termed in the trade as ``laid back''. This form of captaincy is essentially the specialism of the individual who prefers matters to drift, rather than exert the grey cells to make things happen. The South Africans, quite naturally, made him pay for such an approach.

Senseless bowling changes, non existent game plan in the field and wayward bowling ensured that South Africa would have enough on the boards to stifle any challenges that the Kiwis might mount later in the day. Other than the fact that Geoff Allott got the wicket that made him the highest wicket taker ever in the World Cup, the only other distinction, albeit dubious, was 93 runs being given away in the last ten overs. Much against the run of proceedings, Lance Klusener managed to get himself out for the first time, in this competition, thereby enabling the statisticians to breathe easy now.

The New Zealand innings have not been getting the most auspicious of starts, primarily because Nathan Astle is having a miserable drought of runs. His form has been suspect, and every team worth its salt has managed to see the back of him, more often than not, without him getting even into double figures. New Zealand's run chase never got off as a result. With two early wickets down, New Zealand were left with a mountain to climb. South Africa made certain the Kiwis suffered and struggled every inch of the way.

New Zealand have been quite a disappointment so far. It would be a travesty if this team were to reach the semi finals. Standing in their way is an Indian side, freshly rejuvenated after their last match. Stephen Fleming would need to pull something extraordinary out of the hat, if his side is to contemplate any upward mobility. The outcome of the match on Saturday would determine, where India's long and winding road in this World Cup is likely to end. Much depends on Pakistan's match against Zimbabwe as well. Why can't life be simple, like it used to be?