Rain delay didn't cost us, says de Villiers

South Africa captain AB de Villiers has refused to blame his side's dramatic final-over loss to New Zealand in last night's World Cup semi-final on a rain delay that saw the contest reduced to 43 overs per side.

South Africa were 3-216 after 38 overs when rain hit Auckland's Eden Park, with de Villiers unbeaten on 60 from 38 deliveries and Faf du Plessis not out on 82.

They were then forced from the field for two hours as the rain set in, after which du Plessis was dismissed from the first ball he faced following the resumption in play.

David Miller then smashed a furious 49 from 18 deliveries and de Villiers finished 65 not out as South Africa posted 5-281, to which the Duckworth-Lewis calculations added 16 runs.

In their four previous matches batting first at the World Cup, South Africa had accelerated rapidly in the final 15 overs, making 0-188, 2-222, 3-200 and 3-143.

However de Villiers wasn't buying into speculation that the Duckworth-Lewis method hadn't accurately accounted for a late increase in the run rate.

Asked what sort of effect the rain delay had on the outcome, he simply replied: "It's too long ago. We adapted off of that. We had our chance.

"We had opportunities to adjust and we did and I felt it was enough.

"The chances we had in the second inning showed that we … it was enough. It could have been enough.

"So I don't think it played a big role in the game. We always talk about expecting the unexpected, and the unexpected happened today, and we adjusted as well as we could, and it wasn't good enough at the end.

"We had our chances and it's hurting quite a bit. It'll take us a while to get over this."

De Villiers, a standout performer throughout the tournament with 482 runs at 96.40 and a strike-rate of 144.31, was among several players to miss wicket-taking opportunities in the field.

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"We had our chances especially in the second half of the game and we didn't take it," the skipper conceded.

"So, yeah, it's difficult to say what kind of emotions I'm feeling. It's obviously painful. Lots of people back home supporting us. It hurts to think of all of them, you know, and we so badly wanted to take that trophy back home, but I guess life moves on."

De Villiers said that the final over – from which New Zealand needed 12 to win – involved a ball-by-ball discussion between he and pace spearhead Dale Steyn. 

"We were discussing every single ball – yorker, slower ball, hard length," he said. "We were trying everything – (Elliott was) walking across the wicket trying to use the pace.

"Normally when a player does that, he's (expecting) a yorker.

"He wants you to go for a yorker so he can use the pace down to the boundary.

"We decided to go length, hoping that he'll play and miss it, and he played one of the best shots of his life. Probably the best."

Asked where to from here following the gut-wrenching defeat, De Villiers responded: "I have absolutely no idea what to do from here on in."

"I don't even know when we're going home," he added. "It's going to take some time. As a captain, I'll be there for the guys as much as I can, and there is nothing you can do about it now."