A guide to the Cricket World Cup semifinals

The Cricket World Cup began on Feb. 14 with 14 teams. More than a month later, the tournament has been reduced to four countries including defending champion India, four-time winner Australia and its co-host New Zealand, and South Africa.
Here's a quick guide to the semifinals. The winners advance to the final on Sunday, March 29 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground:


New Zealand vs. South Africa
Tuesday, March 24
Eden Park
Auckland, New Zealand (0100 GMT)

SO FAR: Co-host New Zealand hasn't lost a match in winning Pool A and then defeating the West Indies by 143 runs in the quarterfinals. South Africa lost two of its six pool matches to finish second in Pool B and also had a comfortable win in the quarterfinals, beating Sri Lanka by nine wickets.

THE STARS: For New Zealand, Martin Guptill has been exceptional, scoring a World Cup-record 237 not out in Saturday's win over the West Indies. He has scored 498 runs in seven innings and is second only to Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara's 541 in the scoring standings. New Zealand's Trent Boult leads all wicket-takers with 19 while teammates Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee have added 15 each. For South Africa, A.B. de Villiers has tallied 417 runs and is always a threat at the crease. Legspinner Imran Tahir has taken 15 wickets for the Proteas, while Morne Morkel has added 14.

QUOTABLE: "We've got a lot of scouting to do of a quality South African side:" Guptill on the semifinal opposition.
"It was a big-pressure game, and we just showed everyone that we can do it:" de Villiers after South Africa ended its decades-long streak of never winning a knockout match at the World Cup.

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