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Who: South Africa vs New Zealand
What: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semifinal
When: Wednesday, March 4 at 7pm (13:30 GMT)
Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India
How to follow: Al Jazeera’s live coverage begins at 10:00 GMT.
South Africa’s red-hot form and mental strength in the face of a knockout challenge will be put to the test in the first semifinal of the T20 World Cup when they meet a threatening New Zealand side on Wednesday.
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Aiden Markram’s team, the only unbeaten side in the tournament, will look to bury the ghosts of their previously failed attempts to win knockout matches and lift a men’s World Cup trophy.
In their way stand Mitchell Santner’s allround XI of explosive batters, fierce fast bowlers and the most eye-catching fielding team of the tournament.
The famous Eden Gardens, known as India’s home of cricket, will host the showdown between two teams from the Southern Hemisphere.
What are South Africa’s strengths and weaknesses?
Batting
South Africa boast a power-packed batting lineup, which is led at the top by Markram. The captain has amassed 268 runs in seven matches, while Ryan Rickelton has 228.
David Miller’s heroics in the middle order have navigated the team out of trouble, while Quinton de Kock often provides blistering starts as an opener.
Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs and their pace bowlers are all able to clear the boundary lower down the order.
Bowling
Quick bowler Lungi Ngidi has taken 12 wickets and has bamboozled some of the best with his deceptively slow off-cutter while squeezing the runs.
Keshav Maharaj can tie batsmen down with his left-arm spin but also pick up key wickets – as he did against India.
Nightmares of previous failures
On the field, South Africa are the strongest team, but they do carry scars of previously failed attempts at lifting the trophy.
Whether the recent one, from Barbados in 2024, or the 50-over World Cup semifinal failure in 2023, the Proteas have notoriously failed at the last hurdle.
(Al Jazeera)What are New Zealand’s strengths and weaknesses?
Allround talent
New Zealand are truly a sum of all their parts, and most of those parts are vital cogs in the all-round machine.
From skipper and leading spinner Mitchell Santner to batting all-rounders Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra, they thrive on the talents of their multiskilled team members.
Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy offer plenty of pace options while Ish Sodhi’s leg spin helps keep things tight.
Fielding
The Blackcaps are arguably the best fielding side in the tournament, and their acrobatic efforts often make the highlights reel of the match. Phillips has made a reputation for pulling off the most difficult catches.
Lower-order slip-ups
Despite packing all-rounders in their XI, New Zealand have failed to finish their innings with a big flourish on a few occasions. They are the only team in the last four to have lost two matches in the tournament.
New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy could return to the playing XI for the semifinal [Arun Sankar/AFP]How have South Africa fared at the T20 World Cup?
South Africa opened their tournament with a 57-run win against Canada, but needed two super overs to confirm their win against Afghanistan in their second match.
Next, they thumped their semifinal opponents, New Zealand, in a seven-wicket win to confirm their passage to the Super Eights with a game to spare, before completing the group with a six-wicket win against the UAE.
Markram’s team stunned defending champions India at the biggest cricket stadium in the world by handing them a 76-run defeat in Ahmedabad. They then eased to a stunning nine-wicket win over West Indies, before finishing their Super Eights run by handing a five-wicket defeat to Zimbabwe.
How have New Zealand fared at the T20 World Cup?
New Zealand began their campaign with a comfortable five-wicket win over Afghanistan, who failed to contain the Kiwis’ batting prowess. Their second match was the Finn Allen and Tim Seifert show as they crushed the United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets in their chase of 175.
Santner’s side were handed their first defeat by South Africa as they failed to contain the Proteas in pursuit of 176 and ended up losing by seven wickets. They wrapped up their group stage with a comfortable eight-wicket win over Canada.
Their first Super Eights game against Pakistan ended in a washout. The second one, against co-hosts Sri Lanka, was where New Zealand collected crucial two points and a healthy net run-rate to ensure they remained on course for the semis.
England made a late comeback to beat New Zealand in their final Super Eights match, but Pakistan’s failure to hand Sri Lanka a big defeat sealed the Blackcaps’ passage into the knockouts.
What’s South Africa’s best result at the T20 World Cup?
Runners-up: 2024
What’s New Zealand’s best result at the T20 World Cup?
Runners-up: 2021
(Al Jazeera)Form guide: South Africa
The Proteas are the team to beat in the tournament, having won all their games. Their last defeat in T20 matches came in the bilateral series win (2-1) against the West Indies in January.
Last five games (most recent result first): W W W W W
Form guide: New Zealand
New Zealand’s form has been mixed, with a string of wins followed by a defeat in both stages of the World Cup. They also suffered a 4-1 series loss against India before the tournament.
Last five games (most recent result first): L W NR W W
South Africa vs New Zealand: Head-to-head
South Africa hold the edge in their T20 meetings with New Zealand, having won 12 of the 19 encounters. New Zealand have won the remaining seven.
Team news: South Africa
The Proteas tinkered with their playing XI in the last Super Eights match against Zimbabwe, giving a rest to pace bowlers Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada. Both should return to the side for the knockout game.
Predicted XI: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
Team news: New Zealand
The Blackcaps are likely to make one change to the XI that lost their last Super Eights game against England. Jacob Duffy could return to the side in place of Cole McConchie.
Predicted XI: Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (captain), Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
How can I follow and stream the South Africa vs New Zealand semifinal?
Al Jazeera Sport will provide comprehensive live coverage for the knockout match. Our build-up will begin at 10:00 GMT, followed by photo coverage and a text commentary stream.
