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.

Opener Hasini Perera’s second T20I fifty, on the back of two wickets apiece by left-arm spinners Sugandika Kumari and Inoka Ranaweera,  capped off another strong effort by Sri Lanka as they beat West Indies by nine wickets to seal the three-match T20I series 2-0.

Captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and elected to field in Grenada, and much like in the second T20I, the spinners strangled the West Indies batters. Sugandika was introduced into the attack in the third over and she struck with her third ball, nipping out Hayley Matthews, caught and bowled for 8.

Ranaweera then struck with her second ball, prising out Shawnisha Hector, before Sugandika picked up a third wicket in the powerplay in the form of Eboni Brathwaite. Deandra Dottin struck three fours in her first ten balls as West Indies ended the powerplay on a high but slowed down spectacularly after that, only managing 28 off 39 balls as West Indies added just 34 runs in the ten overs after the end of the powerplay.

Ranaweera finished her frugal four-over spell by trapping Dottin lbw, and four balls later, Kavisha Dilhari cleaned up the other set batter, Stafanie Taylor, for 24.

At 83 for 5 after 18 overs, West Indies were in danger of falling short of 100 but Chinelle Henry gave the innings much-needed impetus, smashing an unbeaten 32 off 15 and helping them take 36 runs off the last two overs. Despite the late onslaught, West Indies finished on a below-par 119 for 5.

In reply, Athapaththu raced away again, crashing four fours in the first three overs with Sri Lanka going at nearly ten an over. Sri Lanka added 48 runs in the powerplay without losing a wicket and while Athapaththu fell soon after for a 22-ball 32 to Afy Fletcher, she had set a solid platform.

With the required rate less than six an over, Perera and Imesha Dulani focused more on rotating the strike, putting together an unbroken 72-run stand for the second wicket off 64 balls. Perera took 58 balls to reach her fifty before Dulani finished the match and the series by striking a four off Matthews. Sri Lanka won the game with 14 balls to spare, making it a double success for them, having earlier won the ODIs 2-1.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 121 for 1 in 17.4 overs  (Hasini Perera 52*, Imesha Dulani 34*, Chamari Athapaththu 3; Afy  Fletcher 1-14) beat West Indies omen  119 for 5 in 20 overs  (Stafnie Taylor 24, Deandra Dottin 28, Chinelle Henry 32*;  Inoka Ranaweera 2-16, Sugandika Kumari 2-32, Kavisha Dilhari 1-13) by nine wickets

[Cricinfo]

We are into the business end of a World Cup that has chewed up reputations, minted new stars and nudged a few old warhorses towards the pavilion for the final time. The caravan now rolls towards a weekend that promises either a fresh name on the trophy or a familiar heavyweight tightening its grip on global supremacy.

Of the four semi-finalists, South Africa and New Zealand have been model professionals in ICC events, always knocking on the door, rarely barging through it. Neither has laid hands on the T20 World Cup yet. Standing in their way are former champions India and England, sides that know how to hold their nerve when the heat is turned up. Whether it is a new champion or an old hand reclaiming the crown in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat will be known on Sunday night.

The first semi-final sees South Africa lock horns with New Zealand at Eden Gardens in Calcutta, a venue where history hangs heavy in the humid air. We Sri Lankans love Calcutta for this is where the great Aravinda de Silva sealed India’s fate in the 1996 World Cup semi-final.

The second semi pits India against England at the Wankhede in Bombay, a ground that has staged more epics than a Shakespearean theatre. That includes Mahela Jayawardene’s stunning hundred in the 2011 World Cup final although Sri Lanka ended up on the losing side. Then it is on to Ahmedabad for the grand finale.

Ahmedabad, along with Surat, Baroda and Rajkot, forms the heartbeat of Gujarat, where Modi once served as Chief Minister before ascending to the top office in 2014. Like Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa, who built a stadium in his home constituency of Hambantota and named it after himself, Modi too has left his imprint. But unlike the Hambantota venue, which has drifted into a white-elephant, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with a capacity north of 100,000, is a cauldron of noise and colour. It successfully hosted the 2023 World Cup final and remains very much the jewel in India’s cricketing crown.

For all the talk of upsets in this World Cup, the established order has not exactly been turned on its head. Four of the top five ranked sides have made the semi-finals. Australia are the notable absentees, not for lack of skill, but for muddled thinking. Picking Steve Smith in the squad and then leaving him cooling his heels on the bench was a selection call that left many scratching their heads.

Sri Lanka and West Indies briefly threatened to rattle the cage, only to lose their footing when it mattered most. The Caribbean side were found wanting in bowling depth when the screws were tightened, while Sri Lanka’s campaign unravelled the moment captain Dasun Shanaka pressed the self-destruct button by opting to field first against New Zealand at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Shanaka’s decision raised eyebrows not just in the stands but, by all accounts, within his own dressing room. Batting second at RPS on a wearing surface is no picnic. To choose to bowl first there was akin to Ajith Nivard Cabraal investing in Greek bonds, one involved a crumbling wicket, the other a crumbling economy. Both carried predictable consequences.

India, meanwhile, look every inch the team to beat. They bat deep, boast a battery of bowlers and possess half a dozen match-winners capable of flipping a contest on its head in the space of an over. To knock them off their perch will require something extraordinary.

South Africa’s attack has been particularly impressive. Their quicks have had the wood over opposition batters, not through extravagant reverse swing or toe-crushing yorkers, but by perfecting the art of the slower ball, cutters and off-pace deliveries that grip, hold and deceive.

New Zealand may not enjoy the luxury of a bulging bench, but they field like panthers and adapt to conditions with minimal fuss. England, on the other hand, bat all the way down and have enough spin options to choke the middle overs and dictate tempo.

One cannot help but wonder, though, why Sri Lanka are not hosting a semi-final in a tournament they are co-hosting. Earlier agreements suggested that even if Sri Lanka qualified, they would have to travel to India for the knockout stage. That clause was later revised, but surely co-hosts deserve a fair slice of the showpiece occasions.

Rex Clementine in Bombay