Sports
Runs for de Kock, but New Zealand clinch rain-hit warm-up in Thiruvananthapuram
Rain denied a persistent Quniton de Kock from taking South Africa over the line against New Zealand in Thiruvananthapuram.
Batting first, New Zealand had made 321 for 6 on the back of half-centuries from Devon Conway and Tom Latham. In reply, South Africa made their way to 211 for 4, with de Kock and David Miller both looking in good touch, before the rain put a premature end to the game, with South Africa seven runs short according to DLS.
Apart from the win, New Zealand will be happy with Kane Williamson, who continued his road back to full sharpness, taking the field after scoring a 51-ball 37. However, he will not play in the tournament opener against England.
Both teams tried out 17 bowlers in total. Even keeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen got a chance to roll his arm but it was the strike bowlers who made breakthroughs for both teams.
Trent Boult blew Reeza Hendricks’ pads in the first over and had him lbw. Matt Henry joined Boult to trouble de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen, his new partner, but the batters saw off the spell and took on the bowlers who followed.
Seven of the eight boundaries between the seventh and the 14th overs were scored by van der Dussen, en route to a half-century. His aggression allowed de Kock to settle in despite a slow start. But the 72-run stand was cut off when van der Dussen had a swipe across the line, off Mitchell Santner’s bowling, and was caught at cover.
De Kock smacked five fours and a six off Santner and Ish Sodhi in successive overs to get going. Aidan Markram then smacked Glenn Phillips for two fours but Sodhi had Markram miscue an inside-out shot to deep cover to end the 37-run stand.
Klaasen and de Kock regularly hit boundaries off Sodhi and Rachin Ravindra, and also kept taking singles to move along at a brisk pace. De Kock soon brought up his fifty as well, but Boult returned and immediately struck, going around the wicket to dismiss Klaasen.
Miller and de Kock kept South Africa afloat. De Kock was drained by the heat and suffered some body blows; a bouncer from Mitchell hit him on the head but he carried on. He and Miller both looked comfortable against the spinners, regularly clearing the boundaries. The game seemed to be heading towards a tight finish before the rain interruption.
Earlier in the day, Conway stood tall after New Zealand chose to bat. He settled in with Williamson and Glenn Phillips offering support as the duo added 218 runs. New Zealand did not lose a wicket between the fifth and 40th over, when Phillips chopped on a yorker outside off from Marco Jansen.
Conway drove, pulled and cut his way through to a fifty. Williamson was also fluent with his boundary-scoring shots during his stay. Williamson retired hurt at the end of the 20th over and Conway after the 26th.
As Latham and Phillips rebuilt, rain came in with New Zealand on 171 off 29 overs. The pair settled back after the break with Phillips taking on anything too short or too full. Latham reached his fifty in the 37th over.
The acceleration was cut off by Jansen, who removed both batters in the 40th over. In total, 10 of New Zealand’s batters managed to get a hit. Mitchell’s 16-ball 25, with support from Santner, earned New Zealand 78 runs in the last 10 and took them to 321.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 321 for 6 (Conway 78, Latham 52, Ngidi 3-33) beat South Africa 211 for 4 (De Kock 84*, van der Dussen 51, Boult 2-20) by seven runs via DLS
(Cricinfo)
On Saturday, New Zealand had nervously tuned into Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, wondering if they could sneak into the semi-final. Matt Henry was on the way back home from Colombo for the birth of his second child. New Zealand’s build-up to the semi-final was just as uncertain as they waited anxiously for their bowling spearhead to return. On Wednesday, their performance in the semi-final was anything but uncertain as they KO’d South Africa, who were unbeaten until this game, and launched New Zealand into their second men’s T20 World Cup final.
After their attack welcomed Henry back and limited South Africa to 169 for 8 on a slower-than-usual Eden Gardens track, Finn Allen took centerstage and crashed a 33-ball century, the fastest ever in a men’s T20 World Cup, to make a mockery of the chase. Just as Allen was soaking in his sensational century in the middle, Tim Seifert, the other half of New Zealand’s Bash Brothers, pumped his fist in the dugout. New Zealand completed the demolition job with nine wickets and just more than seven overs to spare.
Mitchell Santner handed the new ball to offspin-bowling allrounder Cole McConchie in the second over, and he aced his match-up, taking out the left-handed pair of Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton in the only over he bowled.
De Kock threw the first punch at McConchie when he swiped him over mid-on for four. McConchie then punched back next ball by darting one into the pitch and having de Kock pop a catch to mid-on for 10 off eight balls. It was the third time in five innings that de Kock was dismissed by an offspinner in this competition.
Rickelton, at No.3, had a crack at an offbreak next ball and ended up slicing a cut to short third for a golden duck. Brevis then avoided the hat-trick, but McConchie, the 18th player included in New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad, had done his job.
With the two left-handers gone and the powerplay done, Santner introduced himself into the attack and conceded just three runs off the seventh over. The New Zealand captain helped offset the damage caused by a 17-run powerplay over from Jimmy Neesham, who had replaced legspinner Ish Sodhi.
Rachin Ravindra then struck in his first over, tossing up one at Aiden Markram’s stumps and having him caught at long-on for 18 off 20 balls. Daryl Mitchell charged in from long-on, dived forward and plucked it inches from the ground. Replays suggested it was touch-and-go, but Nitin Menon, the TV umpire, eventually ruled it as a clean catch.
After dropping Markram on 3 at midwicket, Ravindra enjoyed redemption with the ball.
Against the left-handed David Miller, Ravindra hiked his pace and aimed to hide the ball away from his swinging arc. Ravindra could have had Miller on 3 but Glenn Phillips, believe it or not, dropped a catch in the outfield. Miller added three to his tally before chipping Ravindra to Mitchell at long-off for a regulation catch. Ravindra finished with 2 for 29 in his four overs, extending his own tournament tally to 11. Among spinners, only Varun Chakravarthy, the No.1-ranked T20I bowler, has more wickets than him in this T20 World Cup.
Dewald Brevis flickered briefly for 34 off 27 balls before he was undone by the slowness of the Eden pitch. He jabbed at a drive early and ended up spooning Neesham to Santner at cover. South Africa were 77 for 5 at that point.
Marco Jansen then combined with Tristan Stubbs for a 73-run partnership for the sixth wicket – a new record for South Africa in men’s T20Is. Despite the clatter of wickets, Jansen showed his power and composure. After charging at Ravindra, his former team-mate at Washington Freedom in the MLC, and lofting him for six, Jansen lined Henry up for a no-look six over wide long-on.
He reached his half-century off 27 balls, with a six off Neesham, and finished with his T20I career best of 55 off 30 balls, including two fours and five sixes. Lockie Ferguson snapped the stand in the 19th over when he castled Stubbs for 29 off 24 balls with a nifty legcutter from around the wicket. Henry then closed out the innings with a six-run over, which also included the wickets of Corbin Bosch and Kagiso Rabada. Jansen’s half-century, though, gave South Africa’s attack something to bowl at.
That something soon turned into next to nothing once Allen took off in the chase as the dew set in at Eden Gardens. Allen faced 33 balls and sent 18 of those to or over the boundary. Rabada tried his legcutter, Lungi Ngidi dipped into his slower dipper, Jansen tried to bang it away on a hard length and Bosch offered pace, but nothing worked against Allen.
After reaching his fifty off 19 balls, Allen stormed to his ton off 33 balls. Allen shattered Chris Gayle’s previous T20 World Cup record of a 47-ball hundred against England in 2016.
It was Seifert who had made the early running, contributing 41 of the 62 New Zealand had scored in the first five overs of their chase. In the final over of the powerplay, Allen carted Bosch for a sequence of 6,4,4,4,4 as New Zealand finished with 84 for 0. It was the second-highest powerplay score in this T20 World Cup and the highest powerplay score across all knockout games in the T20 World Cup.
From thereon, it was all about Allen and his brute power. If this was a bat-off for an IPL opening spot at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Allen won it emphatically. South Africa found some respite when Rabada removed Seifert for 58, but Allen finished it off in grand style at Eden Gardens, in the company of Ravindra, another Knight Rider.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 173 for 1 in 12.5 overs (Finn Allen 100*, Tim Seifert 58, Rachin Ravindra 13*; Kagiso Rabada 1-28) beat South Africa 169 for 8 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 18, Quinton de Kock 10, Marco Jansen 55*, Dewald Brevis 34, Tristan Stubbs 29; Matt Henry 2-34, Cole McConchie 2-09, Lockie Ferguson 1-29, James Neesham 1-42, Rachin Ravindra 2-29) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first in the first semi-final at Eden Gardens
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), James Neesham, Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, 11 Lockie Ferguson
South Africa: Aiden Markram (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
The good thing about South Africa – New Zealand semi-finals is it gives neutrals at least one team to cheer for in the final. Two generally likeable sides who have – somehow – yet to lift an ICC white-ball trophy between them since 2000 vie for yet one more crack at it, as they look to edge each other out. South Afria’s heartache c in these tournaments is well-documented, but New Zealand make semi finals more consistently than any other side over the past two decades, and are yet to string the two matches together from this stage onwards that would propel them to glory.
There is, often, little to choose between these two but, this time around, a clear favourite has emerged. South Africa are unbeaten this tournament, and that includes a trouncing, of New Zealand in the group stages. They have played all their games in India, which has allowed them to make full use of their fast bowlers without needing to turn to spin in any extensive way, which plays into their strengths.
With 268 runs at a strike rate of 175, captain Aiden Markram has been arguably the best opener in the tournament, while a middle- and lower-order comprising Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen is the envy of any side in the competition. In Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi – the highest wicket-taker remaining in the tournament – they have high pace as well as great variety, with Keshav Maharaj getting through the spin overs. It is hard to imagine how South Africa could have covered all bases more comprehensively.
New Zealand’s campaign has proved much less straightforward, and it is harder to gauge the true nature of their quality and their ability to contend for this title. They beat Afghanistan, Canada and the UAE through the group stages, before a washout against Pakistan and defeat to England left them relying on an external result to qualify. They owe their place in the last four to a commanding win over Sri Lanka, one which had its own hiccups along the way.
They have had to adjust, though, playing their group matches in India before going off to Sri Lanka for the Super Eight. They are back in India again, with Kolkata the venue for the semi-final, which will likely see them pull back their use of spin and turn to the quicker bowlers again. Their strength is a gun top-order, with Finn Allen and Tim Seifert in consistently explosive form, and great flexibility with the ball thanks to a surfeit of allrounders, a deep batting order, and fast bowlers than can neatly blend back into the side for spinners without disrupting the balance of the line-up.
Both sides have been knocking on the door for silverware for long enough. Once more, they chip away at it in the hope that this time, their efforts will be enough to blow the house down.
Rachin Ravindra was the stand out player in Lahore last year, the last time these two sides met in an ICC semi-final at the 2025 Champions Trophy. He scored a century that set New Zealand on its way before keeping things tight with the ball. At this tournament, he played a central two-in-one role for New Zealand in the Super Eight in Colombo where the ball gripped and stopped, but on the flatter strips of Eden Gardens it is with the bat that he will be more important to New Zealand. Ravindra has a phenomenally good ICC record, but at this tournament, his batting hasn’t quite clicked in the same way. All that can be put to rest facing a team against whom he has enjoyed big-match success.
Aiden Markram has towered over almost any other batter at this tournament, and is the highest run-scorer among sides still alive. He saved his best innings for the game against New Zealand in the groups, pulverising an unbeaten 86 off 44 to seal a comfortable win. It is one of three destructive half-centuries he has scored at this World Cup. His clean aerial hitting through the powerplay has proven almost impossible to counter for bowlers when in this kind of form, especially if he cannot be snared early, as India and Zimbabwe recently managed. Markram has also demonstrated his ability to rise to the biggest of occasions, as evidenced by his fourth innings hundred in the World Test Championship final against Australia last year. A semi-final here is unlikely to overawe him.
Matt Henry arrives in Kolkata tonight after returning home for the birth of his second child. He will not train, but is likely to line up in the XI on Wednesday. With New Zealand returning to the less spin-friendly India, Ish Sodhi might make way for Jimmy Neesham.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Cole McConchie/Jacob Duffy, Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson
South Africa’s top seven is set in stone. On a pitch as flat as Kolkata’s, they are unlikely to go with any more than one spinner.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (capt), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
[Cricinfo]
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