🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: First Semi-Final- SA vs NZ🏏 - Page 5

NZ won the toss and elected to bowl first!

Mitchell Santner: We gonna have a bowl, the pitch looked pretty good the other night. We know they are a great outfit and we know we gotta be on, we need to do our thing put them under pressure and see what happens. Matt Henry has made it back in time. So he is there. Neesham is back.

New Zealand have won the toss and have opted to field

David Miller: Obviously very excited the way, especially the way that we played this campaign, and I think for us, it’s a new game, it’s a new start, as we know, just to continue with those good things that we’ve been doing. You know, each individual has been preparing really well, been putting up performances. If you look at the campaign so far, everyone’s contributed at different stages, so that’s always a healthy sign. And yeah, going into this game, it’s another game to do something really special. So I think it’s just making sure that we get into the fight as quick as possible and kind of adapting on the day, see where it goes. Everyone’s really buzzed up and excited and ready to go. We have played here. A lot of guys played here. So, I mean, it generally can be a high-scoring game. You know, there’s a bit of dew around sometimes as well, so that’s taken into consideration. It should be a good wicket. Like I said, let’s adapt as we start. If we bat or bowl first, whatever it is, we kind of sum up the conditions as quick as possible, but I think it will be a good wicket. So it’s just making sure that we do whatever we do first, we do it really well and try and put pressure on to the opposition as quick as possible.

Teams:

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson

South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi

Aiden Markram: Everyone contributed at some stage which is really pleasing. Hopefully we can start well with the bat and put a good score on the board. We trained here last night and putting runs on the board in a knock-out game is not the worst thing. We got 3 changes. Rabada, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj is back for us.

Mitchell Santner: We're going to have a bowl. I guess we had a little look the other night at what the pitch looked like. It looked pretty good. It should be pretty flat again, so try and make some inroads at the start and try and restrict them to a score. We know they're (South Africa) a great outfit, as they've shown throughout this tournament. So yeah, we know we've got to be on. And I guess, semi-final, there's always a little bit of pressure, but I think if we can just go out there and do our thing and see what happens and put them under pressure in periods and I guess we'll see what happens. Matty Henry's made it back in time, which is nice. So he's obviously in. We've got one change from our Colombo game. It's probably not going to spin as much over as it did over there, so Neesham is back in for Ish (Sodhi).

Pitch and conditions | Pommie Mbangwa and Aaron Finch: 62 meters and 66 meters square boundaries, 74 meters straight. Couple of cracks down the off stump line for the right hander. When you push on them, they move slightly. With the brand new ball, there might be some inconsistent bounce. But as soon as the ball loses its shine, it becomes an absolute beauty. I spoke to the groundsman, he said there was minimal dew the other night. Expect more tonight.

Time to script history for the Kiwis? New Zealand have never beaten South Africa in the history of the T20 World Cup - but today could be the day that changes? For that to happen, their openers, Tim Seifert and Finn Allen, will need to fire once again. Seifert has been New Zealand’s leading run-scorer, averaging an impressive 43.20, while Allen has scored 189 runs and has crossed 20 in every single innings he has played in this World Cup. That kind of consistency at the top will be crucial. With the ball, Mitchell Santner has been economical, but he has managed only 2 wickets from 5 games. In fact, no Kiwi bowler features among the top 15 wicket-takers in this tournament. However, the experienced Matt Henry has been their go-to man. He has picked up 7 wickets from 6 matches, and his spell with the new ball could prove decisive. Whether with bat or ball, it all comes down to the powerplay. If New Zealand are to edge past the mighty Proteas tonight, they must dominate that phase and set the tone early.

Thanks for the tag. May the best team win . 💚🖤

South Africa, that good? If there’s one team that has looked near-perfect with all bases covered in this tournament, it has to be South Africa. They’ve ticked almost every box. Skipper Markram is leading the run charts for his side, setting the tone at the top, while Lungi Ngidi has been outstanding with his variations - 12 wickets from 6 games at a superb average of 13.75. The power-hitters - Miller, Stubbs and Brevis - have all stepped up at different stages, delivering crucial cameos when it mattered most. Keshav Maharaj has kept things tight in the middle overs, controlling the tempo beautifully.

And then there’s Corbin Bosch, who has quietly gone about his business, picking up 11 wickets from 6 games at an impressive average of 14.18. Marco Jansen has also enjoyed an excellent tournament with the ball, claiming 11 wickets from just 5 matches, including a couple of four-wicket hauls. Add to that the fact that South Africa have played all their matches in India, and they’ll head into this contest with both momentum and familiarity firmly on their side.

Lockie Ferguson: Obviously different styles of cricket in Colombo, you had to use a lot of spinners, and the team makeup was slightly different, but nice to get the points and then find ourselves in a semi-final. Changes again (talking about the plans), tonight we know how good a bad wicket it is in India, especially this one, so the structure of the team will probably change a little bit, but the boys are up for the challenge. Yeah, lots of advice. I’ll save it for after the game. But no, look, I think a lot of the players have played here. It’s not too dissimilar to other Indian grounds. It’s a good batting track, quick outfield, so it’s important the boys, from a bowling point of view, hit good areas and try to create as much pressure as possible. We know these guys are going to come out hard, but at the same time, if we put the ball in a good area for long enough, we’ll get those rewards.

This is a game of cricket. We both start from zero. Obviously, it’s nice to play in semifinals. It’s an exciting occasion. We know how challenging the South African side is and how many star players they have, but the boys are up to it. We’ve got a lot of firepower ourselves, so we’re looking forward to tonight. Great. He’s (Matt Henry) always good. I’ve never seen him down, so I’m sure he’ll go to the fitness test and hopefully all well for tonight.”

Thanks for tag and thread