CRICKET WORLD CUP
Group A preview - Group B preview - Results sheet
Group update - England review - Group review - Knockout stages - FINAL
Group update - England review - Group review - Knockout stages - FINAL
QUARTER FINALS
| Date | Venue | Result |
| 18 Mar 03:30 | Sydney Aus | SOUTH AFRICA 134-1 18 beat SRI LANKA 133 37.2 by nine wkts |
| 19 Mar 03:30 | Melbourne Aus | INDIA 302-6 beat BANGLADESH 193 45 by 109 runs |
| 20 Mar 03:30 | Adelaide Aus | AUSTRALIA 216-4 33.5 beat PAKISTAN 213 49.5 by six wickets |
| 21 Mar 01:00 | Wellington NZ | NEW ZEALAND 393-6 beat WEST INDIES 250 30.3 by 143 runs |
SEMI FINALS
| Date/time | Venue | Result |
| 24 Mar 01:00 | Auckland NZ | NEW ZEALAND 299-6 42.5 bt SOUTH AFRICA 281-5 43 by 4 wkts D/L |
| 26 Mar 03:30 | Sydney Aus | AUSTRALIA 328-7 beat INDIA 233 46.5 by 95 runs |
CO-HOSTS Australia and New Zealand ensured the Cricket World Cup followed the form book after both made it through to the Final in Melbourne on Sunday.
Four-time winners Australia will begin the contest as favourites in their seventh appearance in the showpiece event overall.
But, for the Kiwis, the Final will be an entirely new experience after the Black Caps ended a painful sequence of six semi final defeats in dramatic fashion against South Africa on Tuesday.
Grant Elliott scored the winning runs against the country of his birth off the penultimate ball as New Zealand emerged from an amazing encounter in Auckland as winners by four wickets.
The momentum swung back and forth several times during the course of the rain-affected match with Trent Boult removing both openers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, early on in the South African innings.
From 31-2, though, Faf du Plessis (82) led a comeback while being ably supported by Rilee Rossouw (39) and captain AB de Villiers.
Indeed, with De Villiers scoring a typical quickfire half-century, the Proteas looked set for a really big score, perhaps in excess of 350.
But then, in the 38th over, South Africa's mortal semi final enemy made its usual appearance - rain began falling in Auckland.
The delay lasted almost two hours and reduced the tie to 43 overs per side - and so, on the resumption, South Africa had only five more overs to make some quick runs.
Du Plessis's swift departure threatened to cause more disruption - but it was then new man David Miller, rather than De Villiers, who took up the reins.
Not that Miller did a bad job at all - his 49 off 18 balls was De Villiers-esque - and it helped South Africa to a total of 281.
Duckworth-Lewis calculations adjusted the chase to 298 but this was still a score which the Black Caps fancied themselves to achieve taking into account the small boundaries at Eden Park.
Certainly, skipper Brendan McCullum was not slow in producing his usual explosive start with 24 taken off a single Dale Steyn over as New Zealand reached 71-0 off the first five.
But then the Black Caps were checked for a first time as Morne Morkel removed McCullum and, in his next over, Kane Williamson too.
Indeed, New Zealand started to look really vulnerable when Martin Guptill - fresh from his record-breaking 237 against the West Indies - was run out after a horrendous mix-up with Ross Taylor.
And then, for good measure, Taylor himself was caught behind down the leg-side off the spin of JP Duminy.
Requiring to rebuild the innings at 149-4, the largely unheralded pair of Elliott and Anderson did just that - though they also had to ride their luck.
In particular, De Villiers should have easily run out the latter in the 32nd over but he broke the stumps without the ball in his hand - and Anderson went onto make a valuable contribution of 58.
Nevertheless, there was still just enough time for another shift in the balance of the match, and - with five overs remaining - South Africa appeared to have hauled themselves right back in the contest again.
First, Du Plessis took a skier to dismiss Anderson off Morkel - and then, 13 balls later, Luke Ronchi holed out to Rossouw at deep mid-wicket.
In the same over, the Proteas had also let another two run out chances go to waste and so New Zealand were left needing 22 runs from 12 balls to tie and progress.
The drama was not over. From the second ball of the penultimate over, Elliott's aerial shot over mid-wicket somehow found a gap between three fielders.
And then, off the last ball of those six, the eventual hero escaped again when substitute fielder Farhaan Behardien dropped the ball having been disturbed by Duminy diving in front of him.
Onto the last over and, with Steyn bowling and 12 required to win, New Zealand took a bye and a single off the first two balls before a welcome boundary from the veteran Daniel Vettori.
Another bye off the fourth ball brought Elliott back on strike and Eden Park held its collective breath.
Seconds later, the silence was shattered by an ear-splitting roar - Elliott had hit a six with a gloriously clean swipe into the grandstands. New Zealand had won for an eighth World Cup match in a row.
Yes, after all the heartache, the Black Caps could finally celebrate a maiden appearance in the Final of a Cricket World Cup.
But, of course, there are always two sides to a contest like this - and, for heartbroken South Africa, this was a fourth semi final defeat out of four, and a third which had been affected by the weather.
The Proteas have to hope that, just as destiny favoured New Zealand on this occasion, their time will come eventually.
In the meantime, it was especially heartening to see Elliott sportingly help his adversary Steyn off the floor to console him.
For that moment, as much as for the brilliant unbeaten knock of 84, Elliott deserves all of his plaudits.
No doubt he will not be fully celebrating yet, though. New Zealand still have a Final to win - and it would be especially sweet for them to beat neighbours Australia for a second time in the tournament.
It will not be easy though - as, only earlier today, the Aussies hammered the holders India in the second semi final.
In fact, the crushing 95-run defeat in Sydney was the biggest margin of victory by runs in a World Cup semi final - and Australia's 328-7 was also the highest ever semi final score.
Steve Smith - settled batting at three - did the most damage, with 105 off 93 balls, although he was assisted readily by steady opener Aaron Finch who made 81.
A brief spell of hope for India came on the departure of Smith to the excellent Umesh Yadav, before big-hitting Glenn Maxwell also oddly failed to make too much of an impression.
Captain Michael Clarke was out cheaply too - but the Baggy Greens were able to rebuild through James Faulkner, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson, each of whom scored quickly.
Johnson, in particular, deserves credit for pushing the score well beyond 300, hitting 27 off just nine balls - and the lightning-fast bowler delivered early on with the ball as well.
The Queenslander struck twice, removing Virat Kohli for just one before snaring opener Rohit Sharma to leave India on 91-3.
That became 108-4 when Suresh Raina was out to Faulkner - but there then followed a spell of a relative calm as Ajinkya Rahane and skipper MS Dhoni attempted to rebuild the innings.
Unfortunately for India, their decent partnership of 70 could not prevent the required rate from creeping above 10 an over.
And when, Rahane was caught behind off Mitchell Starc, Dhoni was left all alone to play his biggest innings for India since he hit the winning runs in the World Cup four years ago.
Dhoni, on this occasion, simply could not do it - and, after Ravindra Jadeja was run out, the last four wickets of Dhoni, Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Sharma and Yadav fell for two runs in just 15 balls.
Clinical Australia had won with frightening ease - though a classic never looked on the cards once India's promising opening stand of 76 had been brought to an abrupt end by Josh Hazlewood.
Similarly, none of the quarter finals could be considered a classic with each of the four clear favourites comfortably winning through to the semi finals.
Four-time winners Australia will begin the contest as favourites in their seventh appearance in the showpiece event overall.
But, for the Kiwis, the Final will be an entirely new experience after the Black Caps ended a painful sequence of six semi final defeats in dramatic fashion against South Africa on Tuesday.
Grant Elliott scored the winning runs against the country of his birth off the penultimate ball as New Zealand emerged from an amazing encounter in Auckland as winners by four wickets.
The momentum swung back and forth several times during the course of the rain-affected match with Trent Boult removing both openers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, early on in the South African innings.
From 31-2, though, Faf du Plessis (82) led a comeback while being ably supported by Rilee Rossouw (39) and captain AB de Villiers.
Indeed, with De Villiers scoring a typical quickfire half-century, the Proteas looked set for a really big score, perhaps in excess of 350.
But then, in the 38th over, South Africa's mortal semi final enemy made its usual appearance - rain began falling in Auckland.
The delay lasted almost two hours and reduced the tie to 43 overs per side - and so, on the resumption, South Africa had only five more overs to make some quick runs.
Du Plessis's swift departure threatened to cause more disruption - but it was then new man David Miller, rather than De Villiers, who took up the reins.
Not that Miller did a bad job at all - his 49 off 18 balls was De Villiers-esque - and it helped South Africa to a total of 281.
Duckworth-Lewis calculations adjusted the chase to 298 but this was still a score which the Black Caps fancied themselves to achieve taking into account the small boundaries at Eden Park.
Certainly, skipper Brendan McCullum was not slow in producing his usual explosive start with 24 taken off a single Dale Steyn over as New Zealand reached 71-0 off the first five.
But then the Black Caps were checked for a first time as Morne Morkel removed McCullum and, in his next over, Kane Williamson too.
Indeed, New Zealand started to look really vulnerable when Martin Guptill - fresh from his record-breaking 237 against the West Indies - was run out after a horrendous mix-up with Ross Taylor.
And then, for good measure, Taylor himself was caught behind down the leg-side off the spin of JP Duminy.
Requiring to rebuild the innings at 149-4, the largely unheralded pair of Elliott and Anderson did just that - though they also had to ride their luck.
In particular, De Villiers should have easily run out the latter in the 32nd over but he broke the stumps without the ball in his hand - and Anderson went onto make a valuable contribution of 58.
Nevertheless, there was still just enough time for another shift in the balance of the match, and - with five overs remaining - South Africa appeared to have hauled themselves right back in the contest again.
First, Du Plessis took a skier to dismiss Anderson off Morkel - and then, 13 balls later, Luke Ronchi holed out to Rossouw at deep mid-wicket.
In the same over, the Proteas had also let another two run out chances go to waste and so New Zealand were left needing 22 runs from 12 balls to tie and progress.
The drama was not over. From the second ball of the penultimate over, Elliott's aerial shot over mid-wicket somehow found a gap between three fielders.
And then, off the last ball of those six, the eventual hero escaped again when substitute fielder Farhaan Behardien dropped the ball having been disturbed by Duminy diving in front of him.
Onto the last over and, with Steyn bowling and 12 required to win, New Zealand took a bye and a single off the first two balls before a welcome boundary from the veteran Daniel Vettori.
Another bye off the fourth ball brought Elliott back on strike and Eden Park held its collective breath.
Seconds later, the silence was shattered by an ear-splitting roar - Elliott had hit a six with a gloriously clean swipe into the grandstands. New Zealand had won for an eighth World Cup match in a row.
Yes, after all the heartache, the Black Caps could finally celebrate a maiden appearance in the Final of a Cricket World Cup.
But, of course, there are always two sides to a contest like this - and, for heartbroken South Africa, this was a fourth semi final defeat out of four, and a third which had been affected by the weather.
The Proteas have to hope that, just as destiny favoured New Zealand on this occasion, their time will come eventually.
In the meantime, it was especially heartening to see Elliott sportingly help his adversary Steyn off the floor to console him.
For that moment, as much as for the brilliant unbeaten knock of 84, Elliott deserves all of his plaudits.
No doubt he will not be fully celebrating yet, though. New Zealand still have a Final to win - and it would be especially sweet for them to beat neighbours Australia for a second time in the tournament.
It will not be easy though - as, only earlier today, the Aussies hammered the holders India in the second semi final.
In fact, the crushing 95-run defeat in Sydney was the biggest margin of victory by runs in a World Cup semi final - and Australia's 328-7 was also the highest ever semi final score.
Steve Smith - settled batting at three - did the most damage, with 105 off 93 balls, although he was assisted readily by steady opener Aaron Finch who made 81.
A brief spell of hope for India came on the departure of Smith to the excellent Umesh Yadav, before big-hitting Glenn Maxwell also oddly failed to make too much of an impression.
Captain Michael Clarke was out cheaply too - but the Baggy Greens were able to rebuild through James Faulkner, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson, each of whom scored quickly.
Johnson, in particular, deserves credit for pushing the score well beyond 300, hitting 27 off just nine balls - and the lightning-fast bowler delivered early on with the ball as well.
The Queenslander struck twice, removing Virat Kohli for just one before snaring opener Rohit Sharma to leave India on 91-3.
That became 108-4 when Suresh Raina was out to Faulkner - but there then followed a spell of a relative calm as Ajinkya Rahane and skipper MS Dhoni attempted to rebuild the innings.
Unfortunately for India, their decent partnership of 70 could not prevent the required rate from creeping above 10 an over.
And when, Rahane was caught behind off Mitchell Starc, Dhoni was left all alone to play his biggest innings for India since he hit the winning runs in the World Cup four years ago.
Dhoni, on this occasion, simply could not do it - and, after Ravindra Jadeja was run out, the last four wickets of Dhoni, Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Sharma and Yadav fell for two runs in just 15 balls.
Clinical Australia had won with frightening ease - though a classic never looked on the cards once India's promising opening stand of 76 had been brought to an abrupt end by Josh Hazlewood.
Similarly, none of the quarter finals could be considered a classic with each of the four clear favourites comfortably winning through to the semi finals.
In the first game in Sydney, South Africa won by nine wickets in just 18 overs, a World Cup record-quick chase for a knockout match, having earlier bundled Sri Lanka out for 133.
Of course, the Proteas' main threat to the Sri Lankans was meant to have been the pace of Steyn and Morkel - but, surprisingly, seven of the wickets fell instead to the spin of Imran Tahir and Duminy.
Certainly, it was a sad and rather timid way for such prodigious players of spin as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene to leave the international stage for the very last time.
For South Africa, though, the victory marked the end of their ludicrous wait for a first ever knockout stage win at the World Cup which had gone on since 1992.
India, meanwhile, had made light work of surprise package Bangladesh in the second quarter final in Melbourne.
Opener Rohit Sharma hit 137 off 126 balls as the Indians posted 302-6 and then bowled the Bangladeshis out for just 193 with Yadav taking 4-31.
The Tigers - featuring in their first ever quarter final - frankly never recovered from the relatively early loss of their openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, and they were bowled out 109 runs short.
India thus, until this point, had retained the record of having bowled out all seven teams they had faced - and they also extended their World Cup winning run to 11 successive matches.
At least, the third game - Australia v Pakistan - had threatened to resemble a bit more of a contest when the Pakistani quick bowlers Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan were able to reduce the Aussies to 59-3.
But, unfortunately, Pakistan were attempting to defend a paltry total of 213 - and it only took a couple of half-decent partnerships, between Smith and Shane Watson, and then Watson and Maxwell, for the Baggy Greens to win easily inside 34 overs.
Undoubtedly then, the highlight of the matches in the last eight had come in Wellington for New Zealand and, specifically, opener Guptill - whose 237 off 163 balls rewrote the record books.
Sadly, in terms of a contest though, the double century had also taken the tie away from the West Indies, for whom the previous record holder Chris Gayle resisted at the top of the innings with 61 off 33 balls.
Barring solid skipper Jason Holder, though, no one else really backed Gayle up - meaning, in the end, the Caribbean side were bowled out for 250 to fall short by 143 runs.
West Indies therefore departed the World Cup having only beaten Pakistan, Zimbabwe and UAE - and it must now perhaps be considered that they will never return to their former glory.
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