T20 World Cup semi-final: South Africa reeling after New Zealand strikes

South Africa lost four wickets in quick succession after being asked to bat first by New Zealand during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026's semi-final at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Wednesday.

Earlier, New Zealand opted to field first against South Africa after winning the toss.

Playing XI

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), James Neesham, Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, and 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, and Lungi Ngidi

Head-to-head

South Africa and New Zealand have come face-to-face 19 times in T20Is, with the former dominating the head-to-head record with 12 victories, compared to the Blackcaps' seven.

In T20 World Cups, however, South Africa boast a perfect 5-0 record over New Zealand.

• Matches: 19
• South Africa: 12
• New Zealand: 7

Form Guide

South Africa and New Zealand enter the fixture with contrasting momentum in their favour as the former are unbeaten in the 20-team tournament, while the Blackcaps suffered defeats in both the group and Super Eights stage and consequently qualified for the semi-final only due to a superior net run rate than that of Pakistan.

The two teams also locked horns in the group stage, which South Africa won convincingly by seven wickets, courtesy of Marco Jansen's four-wicket haul and captain Aiden Markram's unbeaten half-century.

South Africa: W, W, W, W, W (most recent first)

New Zealand: L, W, NR, W, L