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Realisation was still dawning on the South African players last night. ``At last we've made the semi-finals,'' said their jubilant captain, Hansie Cronje. ``And are we hugely relieved. Especially after 1996.''

Three years ago in Karachi, Cronje's much-fancied side blew their chances of reaching the last four after thrashing all opposition in the earlier rounds of the World Cup only for the West Indies unexpectedly to beat them in the quarter-finals.

Cronje can still recall with some anguish another sorry day in South Africa's recent World Cup history - the moment in 1992 when the side stood on the brink of the final in Sydney only to be robbed of a place when rain meant they had to score 22 off one ball against England.

But he is taking nothing for granted. Asked if the side would now take it easy, Cronje said: ``I can't remember this team taking its foot off the accelarator very much in recent times.

``At the moment we are nursing a couple of injuries. Herschelle Gibbs has a slight hamstring problem, which I think is mainly cramp, and Jacques Kallis has a stomach muscle twinge.

``I think we will go into the Australia game on Sunday feeling relaxed and that is often the case when a team plays at its best.

``Australia are going to be under pressure and tense and our mood may give us the upper hand.''

Cronje believes that players such as Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald will be ``all the hungrier now'' because of their relative lack of wickets to date.

``The same applies to batsmen like Daryll Cullinan and Jonty Rhodes and myself,'' he added. ``I am feeling on the short side when it comes to runs. Now is the time we all will be wanting to produce the goods.''

Cronje said he was pleased Lance Klusener had got his first failure with the bat out of the way ``at a moment when the other guys were chipping in with the runs''.

The South African captain added: ``He is a carefree, relaxed guy, so we never know whether it affects him or not.''

Cronje said that he was not yet looking at the Super Six league table to see which semi-final place his team would hold.

``But, yes, it would be an advantage to play the first game on Wednesday because then you have an extra day to rest up in,'' he said.

Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's captain, paid a high tribute to the quality of the South Africans' performance.

He said: ``They are probably the best-balanced side in the competition and when they play to their potential like they did here, they are pretty tough to beat.''

Fleming said South Africa's century opening partnership had allowed them to dictate the course of the game.

He went on: ``The feature of their innings was the way they broke up our in-field with the single and that opened the way for the big hitting later on. That first-wicket partnership was the sort of innings you dream about as a captain.''

Fleming admitted that New Zealand now faced a tough game against India tomorrow if they were still to qualify for the semi-finals.

``It's very simple - either we win or we go home,'' he said, perhaps forgetting, in the aftermath of the defeat, that New Zealand stay on in England for a four-Test series starting next month.