brendon mccullum insists he and his new zealand team are enjoying 'the greatest time of our lives' after a thrilling four wicket win against south africa in auckland saw them reach their first ever world cup final grant elliott (84 not out) hit a six off the penultimate ball of the match at eden park to wrap up victory for the black caps, having been set 298 to win via the duckworth lewis method after south africa amassed 281 for five from their 43 overs following a two hour rain interruption new zealand will face either fellow co hosts australia or defending champions india in sunday's final in melbourne but, win or lose, mccullum says he and his players have enjoyed themselves immensely during the last six weeks new zealand show appreciation for the home fans who captain brendan mccullum branded 'phenomenal' mccullum flicks the ball away as he got new zealand off to a blistering start in their chase  'i've said it time and time again it's the greatest time of our lives as players,' mccullum, who scored 59 from just 26 balls to give the kiwis a promising start, said on sky sports world cup 'we're enjoying the experience it's been an incredible ride all the way through 'the crowds we've had turn up in new zealand and support this team and the brand of cricket we're trying to play has been phenomenal so i hope they're all dreaming as much as we are 'we've got a huge occasion in a few days' time geez, it'd be nice to win it' new zealand were stuttering on 149 for four when elliott and corey anderson (58) steadied the ship with a fifth wicket stand of 103 from 162 overs to keep them in the game mccullum was keen to pay tribute to his match winner, adding: 'what a great innings from grant elliott it was wow mccullum's combination of clever shotmaking and explosive power set new zealand up for a win  grant elliott celebrates after smashing the winning runs as new zealand reached their first ever final  new zealand celebrate after taking a wicket during the first innings of their semi final against south africa  '(he) came out of the wilderness not that long ago and he's just played a match winning innings in a semi final, and the partnership him and corey had just had such calmness as well tremendous achievement from them and all the boys' elliott, born in johannesburg, insisted the energetic home support had helped new zealand over the line and he does not expect them to change their approach for the final 'when you've got 40,000 fans screaming at you every ball (it spurs you on),' he said 'it's been an absolute pleasure playing at eden park and playing in front of the home crowd the new zealand players celebrate out in the middle with hugs for daniel vettori, who helped see them home  corey anderson (above) and grant elliot settled the hosts' nerves with a brilliant partnership of 103  'i think we've had a good run and it's the first final we've been in as a new zealand team we're a very level team so i think we'll just approach it as every other game' south africa captain ab de villiers (65no) also paid tribute to the eden park crowd and insisted his players could not have done more to clinch victory 'it was an amazing game of cricket it's probably the most electric crowd i've ever heard in my life so credit to the fans here,' said de villiers, who shared a fourth wicket partnership of 103 from 121 overs with faf du plessis (82) 'they really were here to support their team and i guess the better team came out on top 'we gave it our best, we left everything out there on the field and i couldn't ask for anything more from our boys so we don't go back with any regrets'
new zealand south africa world cup brendan mccullum mccullum grant elliott
new zealand beat south africa to reach first ever world cup final . brendan mccullum hails 'phenomenal' home support after victory . mccullum also pays tribute to match winner grant elliott 