Unbeaten South Africa national cricket team will look to continue their pursuit of a maiden T20 World Cup title when they face New Zealand national cricket team in the first semi-final in Kolkata on Wednesday, with the prospect of a blockbuster final against India national cricket team looming.
Led by Aiden Markram, South Africa have already defeated New Zealand comfortably in the group stage and will be aiming to repeat that performance to book their place in Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad. A victory could set up a rematch of the 2024 final against India.
India, the defending champions, must first overcome England national cricket team in Thursday’s second semi-final in Mumbai. The high-profile clash has generated enormous excitement in the cricket-mad city, with captain Suryakumar Yadav leading the hosts and Harry Brook at the helm for England.
South Africa enter the knockout stage with momentum and renewed belief. Long burdened by a reputation for faltering in major tournaments, they ended years of heartbreak by lifting the World Test Championship last year. Eight members of that victorious squad are part of the current T20 World Cup campaign.
The Proteas have been consistent across all departments and appear determined to erase memories of their agonising defeat to India in the previous T20 final. Chasing 177 in Barbados, South Africa needed just 26 runs from the final four overs with six wickets in hand but suffered a late collapse to finish on 169-8, handing India a dramatic seven-run victory.
Markram has led from the front in this tournament, including an unbeaten 86 in a dominant seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the group stage, where South Africa chased down 176 with 17 balls to spare. They remain the only side to have won all seven of their matches so far.
They topped their Super Eight group with wins over India and the West Indies, while New Zealand, captained by Mitchell Santner, progressed to the semi-finals on net run rate after losses to England left them level on points with Pakistan.
England, meanwhile, appear to be peaking at the right time. Brook has made a strong impression since moving up to number three in the batting order, scoring a fluent century in a successful chase of 165 against Pakistan. England won all three of their Super Eight matches and will take confidence from previous outings in Mumbai, where they played two group games.
India began their campaign at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, where they were in trouble at 77-6 against the USA before Suryakumar’s 84 rescued the innings. As the world’s top-ranked T20 side, India are seeking to become the first team to win back-to-back T20 World Cups and the first to claim the title on home soil.
After an early setback against South Africa in the Super Eights, India responded emphatically. In must-win matches, they piled up 256 against Zimbabwe and chased down 196 against the West Indies, powered by an unbeaten 97 from Sanju Samson.
With South Africa favourites to secure the first spot in the final, attention will quickly turn to Mumbai, where England will attempt to derail India’s title defence and silence a packed stadium of more than 35,000 fans — and millions more watching across the country.
