New Zealand smashed South Africa six ways to Sunday to secure a place in the final of the 2026 T20 World Cup after what was arguably the best batting performance of this tournament so far.
The South Africa vs New Zealand game was semi-final one of the ongoing T20 World Cup. The game was played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and saw the Kiwis win the toss and decide to bowl first, mindful of the possibility of dew falling in the second half of the match.
SA vs NZ: New Zealand Beat South Africa In Semi Final 1
The Proteas got off to a disappointing start to their inning. In just the second over of their inning, New Zealand bowler Cole McConchie took two wickets in two balls, dismissing Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton.
South Africa struggled to mount runs in the couple of overs after these wickets. It was only because of a 17-run fifth over that they could reach a score of 48/2 at the end of the powerplay.
The duo of Dewald Brevis and captain Aiden Markram dragged the scoreboard along at a cautious rate. The two took the team’s total past the fifty-run mark. It was in the eighth over, following Markram’s wicket, that the partnership broke.
The defending World Test Champions’ troubles only intensified when an in-form David Miller got out for cheap in the 10th over, and then Brevis, who made 34 off 27, was dismissed in the very next over.
Reeling at 77/5 in the 11th over, South Africa needed a rescue operation if they were to reach a respectable total. That rescue was mounted by the sixth-wicket partnership between Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen.
The two, slowly and steadily at first, took South Africa out of the pit they found themselves in. The pair took the team past the 100-run mark. The score, at the end of the 16th over, was 113/5, with four overs remaining.
Check Out: New Zealand Beat South Africa In Semi Final 1
During this death-over period, while Stubbs still played cautiously, Jansen took charge of picking up the run rate. 15 runs came in the 17th over, bowled by Matt Henry, and then 22 were scored in the 18th, bowled by Jimmy Neesham.
While Tristan Stubbs got out in the 19th after making a 24-ball 29, Jansen reached his 50 in that over too, reaching the milestone in 27 deliveries.
With a solid 20th over bowled by Matt Henry, where six runs were scored, and two wickets fell, South Africa reached a below-expected yet defendable total of 169/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
When New Zealand came out to bat, they were the favourites to win this game. However, the Proteas breathed fire at the start of the second inning with the ball. While 19 runs were scored in the first two overs by the opening duo of Tim Seifert and Finn Allen, multiple wicket-taking chances were created in those two overs, bowled by Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada, respectively.
But then, after the Blackcaps openers dusted themselves off after a shaky start to the inning, they took the game away from the South Africans so fast that no one saw it coming.
The explosive duo made 62 runs in the first five overs. But then came the fifth, bowled by Corbin Bosch. In that over, Allen hit a six and four 4s, for a total of 22 runs. With that, New Zealand made 84 runs in the powerplay.
In the eighth over, Seifert reached his half-century in 28 deliveries. Then, in the very next over, Allen one-upped him and reached the same milestone in just 19 balls, the second-fastest 50 in this tournament.
Tim Seifert did get out on the first delivery of the 10th over for 58 off 33. But by that point, the Kiwis had already made 117 runs, and the game was all but over. However, despite a required run rate below six, New Zealand did not take their foot off the pedal. More specifically, Finn Allen didn’t.
The 26-year-old went on to score a 33-ball-100, the fastest in World Cup cricket, reaching the triple-digit mark in just 33 deliveries. He also reached his ton with a four, which also took his team through to the finish line.
New Zealand defeated South Africa in semifinal 1 of the 2026 T20 World Cup by nine wickets, with 43 balls to spare. Unsurprisingly, Finn Allen was named the Player of the Match.
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