Brendon McCullum on Wednesday conceded Daniel Vettori had probably played his last international innings on home soil, saying New Zealand were intent on giving the veteran a fairytale send-off in the World Cup final. The 36-year-old Vettori, who scored a crucial boundary at the death to help seal the four-wicket win against South Africa, has been coy about his future plans.
“last night with him out there at the end, that’s a memory he’ll never forget,” McCullum told reporters. “Hopefully we’ve got one more game, one more big fairytale finish for him and then we’ll have a few beers.” Kiwi coach Mike
Hesson said he had been an “ebb and flow” of emotion throughout Tuesday’s game. “There were obviously a lot of emotions throughout,” Hesson said. “I never thought we would get over the line until we saw the ball disappearing. I don’t even know where it landed. I just jumped up and carried on. It was a whole heap of emotion, a whole heap of pride in the group.”
SA goes soft on team
Stellenbosch: led by unexpected praise from the nation’s outspoken sports minister, South Africa went easy on its cricket team after another painful loss at the World Cup. Fikile Mbalula said, “You made us proud as a nation as you fought until the last minute,” Mbalula said.
“You are winners in my eyes and I’m sure the whole nation agrees.” “World Cup tears” said the Afrikaans-language Die Burger newspaper with a photograph of Dale Steyn lying flat out on his back on the pitch. The Times called it “A crying shame,” and the tabloid Daily Sun even called them “brave Proteas.”