🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: M24: SA vs NZ at Ahmedabad🏏

🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: M24: South Africa vs New Zealand at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 14/02/2026 at 7:00 PM IST🏏

NZ and SA look ahead to Super Eights in low-pressure contest

It will be the teams' first meeting in a T20 World Cup since 2014

A for Agony, B for Bizarre, C for Crunch moments and D for Death. The Group D encounter of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 will see South Africa (SA) square off against New Zealand (NZ) in Match No. 24 at the gigantic venue of the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Saturday, February 14. Out of the last five T20Is between the two sides, the Kiwis have won four.

New Zealand have been in tremendous run of form in the ongoing competition. They first thumped Afghanistan in their opening match in Chennai, followed by a dominant run chase against the United Arab Emirates. If the Mitchell Santner-led side wins the upcoming contest, it will proceed to the Super Eights with a game left in the group stage.

Team news - Will Bosch be back?

New Zealand played the same XI against both Afghanistan and UAE, and they seem unlikely to make any changes unless a used pitch prompts them to pick an extra spinner in Ish Sodhi.

New Zealand (probable): 1 Tim Seifert (wk), 2 Finn Allen, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Mark Chapman, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 James Neesham, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Jacob Duffy

South Africa replaced seam-bowling allrounder Corbin Bosch with spin-bowling allrounder George Linde when they played Afghanistan. They might, however, worry about having two left-arm fingerspinners in Linde and Maharaj against a New Zealand side with four left-hand batters in their likely top eight. Bosch, therefore, could come back in.

South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Ryan Rickelton, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch/George Linde, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Lungi Ngidi

NZ vs SA Probable Best Performers of the Match

Probable Best Batter: Tim Seifert

Tim Seifert starred in the blistering run chase that the BlackCaps had against the United Arab Emirates in the earlier contest. His unbeaten partnership alongside his opening mate Finn Allen helped massively in the Kiwis registering their second win of the tournament. Seifert will be looking for yet another solid batting display in Motera.

Squads:

New Zealand Squad: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi, Kyle Jamieson, Devon Conway, Cole McConchie

South Africa Squad: Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Jason Smith, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka

Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad Pitch Report

Out of the ten T20I encounters played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, teams batting first have won only thrice. The pitch gets better to bat once the cracks on the surface open up, allowing the ball to carry through nicely off the deck. The flat pitches here often put high-scoring thrillers on offer, and a similar encounter is on the cards for the Saturday fixture as well.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have won all four of their previous T20 World Cup games against New Zealand.
• The two teams, however, haven't met in this tournament since 2014. And they've only met three times in T20Is in this decade, with New Zealand winning on all three occasions.
• The last time New Zealand and South Africa met at a T20 World Cup was in 2014•Getty Images
• Quinton de Kock is two runs away from becoming the first South Africa batter - and the 13th overall - to score 3000 in T20Is.
• Mitchell Santner needs 30 runs to reach the 1000 mark in T20Is.

Quotes

"You always want to play the best sides, and we've grown up with it [the SA-NZ rivalry]. With rugby and cricket, it's always those games you want to be a part of. So it's always exciting to come and play South Africa, and nothing changes in a World Cup. They're always going to be strong in all areas as well, so that's just a challenge we look forward to."

New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry

"First and foremost, discipline. Not just from the no-ball or anything like that, but 22 extras, I think it's been now in two games. It's a lot of runs in this format, 11 a game on average. It can add up to a lot and can hurt you a lot in the future as well, so that's probably first and foremost where a lot of the chats have been."

South Africa captain Aiden Markram on the improvement he wants from his team

NZ vs SA Head to Head T20I Record

Matches Played 18

Won by NZ 7

Won by SA 11

Tied / No Results 0

First-ever Fixture October 21, 2005 (NZ Won)

Most Recent Fixture July 26, 2025 (NZ Won)

Probable Best Bowler: Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada didn't have the best of the afternoons during his four-over spell against Afghanistan. However, a quality pace bowler like him needs no time to turn the game on its head. Rabada also has the experience of playing in Ahmedabad during his IPL stint with the Gujarat Titans. The Proteas bowler is expected to be among wickets on Saturday as well.

NZ and SA look ahead to Super Eights in low-pressure contest

It will be the teams' first meeting in a T20 World Cup since 2014

South Africa beat Afghanistan in their last game in what was a matter of inches

Big picture - Not much riding

Wednesday afternoon's all-time classic in Ahmedabad was a game of inches. A couple of inches this way or that, and Saturday night's game, at the same venue, could have had a whole lot more riding on it.

But as things stand, New Zealand and South Africa look set for safe passage out of Group D and into the Super Eights, leaving Afghanistan bemoaning fate and small margins, and praying for miracles from UAE and Canada - or is probably unlikely to cut it.

There's no mystery about which of the Super Eights groups New Zealand and South Africa will end up in either. Pre-tournament seedings already decided that.

So this game, which could have been one of the tastiest clashes of the tournament, pitting two title contenders and featuring several tactical sub-plots, doesn't really have much riding on it at all.

It could still turn out to be one of the games of the tournament, of course, because that can happen when you put two T20 teams of elite power and skill on the field together. But the title of this section, big picture? There isn't much of it at all