One of New Zealand and South Africa will take a big step to a first white-ball World Cup triumph when they meet in Kolkata tonight
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner wants his team to piece together their first “perfect game” of the T20 World Cup when they face in-form South Africa in the first semi-final at Eden Gardens.
South Africa remain the tournament’s only unbeaten team and their seven wins in a row include a seven-wicket thumping of New Zealand in the group stage in Ahmedabad.
But neither side are reading too much into that result with Proteas captain Aiden Markram insisting they will take nothing for granted on Wednesday (Thursday 12.30am AEDT).
“I wish cricket was that easy,” Markram said. “New Zealand are a quality team; they’ve proved that over many years now.
“We had a good run against them in the group stage. But both teams have played a lot of cricket since then, and it’s completely a fresh start tomorrow. I don’t think it’s as straightforward as just being able to repeat that again.”
The Black Caps are also coming off a loss in their most recent game, only sneaking into the semi-finals with a superior net run-rate following their defeat to England in Colombo.
“We haven’t probably played the perfect game throughout this tournament. I guess that’s a good thing for us,” Santner said. “If we can put it all together it puts us in a pretty good position.
“We know South Africa are going to be a threat. We’re just going to try to put some pressure on them at different stages of the game, and they’re going to do the same for us.”
Neither team has previously played in Kolkata this tournament and both captains said much will depend on the conditions and who adapts to them best.
Markram said South Africa’s perfect run was down to their smart cricket, highlighting their calm decision-making and the influence of wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock.
“I think it’s more just around making really good decisions under pressure. We’ve got a lot of good experience in the group,” he said.
“‘Quinny’ reads conditions really well from behind the stumps, and that makes a massive difference for us. Guys come up with plans from there – ultimately, you need to execute them (but) we don’t try to complicate too much.”
Both teams are chasing a first men’s white-ball World Cup triumph having each lost in recent T20 finals, New Zealand in 2021 and South Africa last time out in 2024.
New Zealand also lost the 2015 and 2019 50-over World Cup finals.
The Black Caps’ Matt Henry, who had returned home on paternity leave, will rejoin the squad on Tuesday night but Santner could not confirm if he would play.
2026 Men’s T20 World Cup knockout stage
Semi-final 1: South Africa v New Zealand, Kolkata (Thursday, 12.30am AEDT)
Semi-final 2: India v England, Mumbai (Friday, 12.30am AEDT)
Final: Ahmedabad (Monday, 12.30am AEDT)
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
