It was a spin track, not quite the dustbowl of subcontinent; you didn't see puff of dust and stuff. And not quite the 1996 semi-final wicket of India and Sri Lanka but it was very slow and offered generous help to spinners. AB was simply marvelous against the Indian spinners to push South Africa to 130. And it was enough as India crumbled against Botha & co.
Dhoni : The crowd boo and Dhoni has a smile at that reaction. "We had a good warm-up session, had a couple of hits. In that point of view we were up for it. Our batting didn't do well today. When we come back in nine months time, hopefully we would do well. Throughout, I am quite happy with the performance of the bowlers but we lacked a few things with the batting. We have got good support, we have to win games else we will get booed at the end of the game! "
SMith:" It was a good total. It wasn't a great wicket and the way we defended was great. It showed how far we have come in thinking and the options we have. The slow bowlers bowled well. They did a great job today and well supported in the field. We are excited for the semi-finals. It's a great moment for us. We have adapted to every surface we have played. I think we will play Pakistan on Thursday. We are very excited."
Man of the Match AB de Villiers : "I don't think it was my fanciest knock of my life. The trick is to be solid in the first 20 balls and then you can start expressing yourself. The bowlers bowled really well, we have two class spinners. It was important to take singles and twos. Later on in the innings, you can look for the big shots."
That's it from us. So India's campaign ends with the crowd booing the Indian captain Dhoni who handled it really well, I thought. And South Africa showcased their all round strength and their adaptability. And it was a treat to watch AB bat today on a spinning wicket. That's it from us. On behalf of our scorers, Srinivas Raju and R Gopi, this is Sriram Veera, signing off.