De Villiers regrets missing easy chances

Auckland, March 24 : South African skipper AB de Villiers on Tuesday rued the missed chances that eventually cost his side the World Cup semi-fil against New Zealand at the Eden Park.

South Africa lost a rain-affected match by four wickets by the Duckworth-Lewis method in the penultimate ball of the contest at the Eden Park here.

South Africa set New Zealand a daunting target of 298 runs in 43 overs and were well placed to win the match but they squandered several opportunities to surrender the contest.

De Villiers himself was guilty of missing a routine run-out as he failed to get rid of all-rounder Corey Anderson, who was batting on 33 then. He went on to score a crucial knock of 58 runs off 57 balls.

Asked about the incident in the post-match media conference, De Villiers said: "That's one of the moments. We had a few chances to win the game tonight. It's not the only chance. Tried my best to catch and I didn't."

"Life moves on. I didn't take that and unfortutely, we had our chance again after that. But, yes, if you want to see it that way, that I cost us, then I'll gladly take it." IANS