Elliott dedicates victory to New Zealand fans

Auckland, March 24 (IANS) Johannesburg-born New Zealand batsman Grant Elliott dedicated his team’s stunning victory over South Africa to the home fans who were present at the Eden Park here on Tuesday.

Chasing 298 in 43 overs, Elliott scored an unbeaten 84 off 73 balls, which included seven fours and three sixes, to help New Zealand achieve the target with four wickets and a ball to spare and thus beat South Africa and reach their maiden cricket World Cup final.

“I don't think this win is for myself, not for the team, but it's for everyone here present. The support has been amazing,” Elliott said.

Elliott, who is now based in Wellington, left his native South Africa in 2001 looking for new horizons and reached new heights in March 2008 when he was named in New Zealand's 13-man squad for the first Test against England at Hamilton. The 36-year-old has now played 66 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and five Tests.

The right-handed batsman said that he, along with Corey Anderson, wanted to stay at the crease for as long as possible.

“Me and Anderson just wanted to take it as deep as we could and Corey batted fantastically well and we timed the pace of the innings to perfection,” he said.

When asked if he was calm during the final stages of the match, he said: “Probably not but when you have got 40,000 fans screaming at you every ball, it has been an absolute pleasure playing at Eden Park, playing in front of the home crowd.”

“We have had a good run and it is the first final we have been in as a New Zealand team and we are a very levelled team. We will approach the final as every other game and when we look back at the end of the day hopefully, it falls in our place,” he said.