In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, South Africa will take on New Zealand in the first semifinal clash at Eden Gardens in Kolkata today. The match will begin at 7 pm Indian time.
India will face England in the second semi-final match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai tomorrow. The winners of both these matches will face each other in the finals on the 8th of March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
It could’ve been Pakistan. It could’ve been a hastily-arranged trip to Colombo. But the situation changed, equations flipped and South Africa arrived in Kolkata instead. You could argue a free-flowing batting side like South Africa would be happier to be in the vicinity of a true surface with a fast outfield and loads of runs, rather than Colombo where square boundaries are big, and spinners are happy.
Their opponents New Zealand might not share that sentiment after spending the last 10-odd days in Colombo. But they’ll be glad it’s them and not Pakistan making up the top-four despite their campaign lacking spark and conviction. That however, is not for them to dwell on anymore. A big opposition awaits them, but as does a blank slate and an equal chance to get to the summit. Mitchell Santner could very well use the narrative of being imperfect to tell his players that the only way from here, as far as they’re concerned, should be upward.
What’s the idea that Aiden Markram could propagate in his dressing room – full of confident players with seven wins on the bounce? Perhaps to not read too much into South Africa’s checkered history with World Cup knockouts. He could believe that all of it is just a lazy narrative, and he wouldn’t be wrong. Just two years ago, South Africa absolutely demolished Afghanistan in this very fixture before falling at the last hurdle against India.
“We’re not trying to do anything different tomorrow. Keep hammering away at the things that we’ve done well and that have got us here,” Markram said, once again playing down the pressures that come with this sort of a game.
South Africa and New Zealand have traversed very different paths to get to their semifinal destinations, and not just geographically. Their past in this tournament, and against each other, gives the game a backstory – a little added weight to the heft of a knockout. But once the lights come on at Eden Gardens on Wednesday evening, none of that will matter. All that will remain is one coveted ticket to Ahmedabad, and two teams staking a claim.
Squads:
South Africa Squad: Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Jason Smith
New Zealand Squad: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy, James Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Devon Conway
