They have faced each other once already in pool play, with the Proteas coming out convincing winners, and Aiden Markram’s team will be hoping for a repeat of that performance when New Zealand and South Africa meet in the T20 World Cup’s first semi-final on Wednesday.
South Africa may be the lowest ranked side amongst the final four, but they are the form side and the only team still undefeated in the competition. In the last year these two sides have faced each other on four occasions, with the Black Caps winning three times. It’s all shaping up to be an engrossing encounter.
T20 World Cup Semi-final 1: New Zealand v South Africa
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Date: Wednesday, 4 March, 3:30pm
Key talking point:
New Zealand:
It hasn’t been easy for the Black Caps, but they keep doing just enough to keep their title hopes alive. The only side in the semis who have lost two games in the competition, New Zealand come into the semis as underdogs – but that’s a position they will be comfortable with. Like South Africa, New Zealand have never won the tournament – their best finish was as runners-up in 2021. The Black Caps are a team packed with quality cricketers, not necessarily with T20 stars – that makes them consistent even if they are not always explosive.
South Africa:
Whenever the Proteas advance in a tournament talk inevitably turns to choking. This is of course completely unfair, but it is a legacy that has developed over time, sometimes correctly (because there have been times when they did choke), and more recently due to it being a convenient narrative. As it stands the Proteas are the lowest ranked side of the four teams left in the competition. They are ranked five in the world with New Zealand four, England two and India one. In many ways the Proteas have already over-achieved simply by making it to the last four…
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
New Zealand have played twice at Eden Gardens, winning once and losing once. For South Africa, Wednesday’s semi-final will be their first ever T20I at the ground.
The average first innings score at Eden Gardens is 162.
The highest T20I score made at Eden Gardens was Scotland’s 207 for four from 20 overs against Italy earlier in the tournament.
The highest score successfully chased at the ground was India’s 199 for five against the West Indies in Sunday’s Super Eight encounter.
Although there is not much in it from a results perspective, the team that wins the toss in Kolkata generally opts to chase with 12 skippers opting to field and six electing to bat first.
The lowest score successfully defended at the ground was India’s 186/5 from 20 overs, made against the West Indies in 2022.
Weather:
The weather in Kolkata on Wednesday evening is expected to be warm and comfortable. Temperatures will gradually drop from around 27 degrees to 24. The sky will remain clear with light southerly winds and no chance of rain. Humidity may rise towards 90%, making it feel slightly warmer than the actual temperature.
Form:
New Zealand: L, W, NR, W, L.
South Africa: W, W, W, W, W.
Key players:
New Zealand, Tim Seifert: Ranked at 10 on the ICC’s T20 batsman list, Seifert is the difference between a good start and the Black Cap middle order having to play catch-up. A superb striker of the ball Seifert is averaging 43.20 in the tournament and has already hit 216 runs. Of that total, 71,29 percent have been boundaries.
South Africa, Lungi Ngidi: Shaun Pollock cheekily suggested that Ngidi was South Africa’s very own mystery spinner given the quality of his variations and his stellar slow ball. Ngidi is the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament, but he has been so much more than just a wicket-taking threat. His strike-rate of 12 and average of 13.75 make him more potent that Jasprit Bumrah, but he has also been astoundingly economical, going at 6.87 per over. It is his ability to keep the runs down that buys other bowlers wickets and which makes Ngidi such a key cog in the Proteas machine.
Prediction: South Africa
The Proteas are the tournament’s form team, and they are firing on all cylinders with players performing at all levels – they have two batsmen in the tournament’s top ten and three bowlers in the top five. New Zealand have just one player on either of those lists, Tim Seifert at 10 on the batting ratings. Without a doubt, New Zealand are a good team, and at fourth on the ICC rankings they are ahead of South Africa, but the Proteas have the momentum, and they should be good enough to get the job done in Kolkata.
