Kolkata, March 3 – Unbeaten South Africa will face New Zealand in the first semi-final of the ongoing 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be played at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
The Proteas arrived for the match after a strong performance in the Super 8s, where they first defeated the defending champions, India, by 76 runs. The Aiden Markram-led team secured their second victory by defeating the two-time champions, West Indies, by 9 wickets. They concluded the Super 8s campaign with a narrow win against Zimbabwe.
On the other hand, New Zealand had a mixed Super 8s campaign, with their first match against Pakistan being washed out due to rain. The team performed well in their next match against Sri Lanka, securing a dominant 61-run victory. The Mitchell Santner-led team suffered a close defeat against England in their last match. Despite earning 3 points, they advanced to the next round with a good net run rate (NRR).
This will be the sixth time both teams will meet in the T20 World Cup. South Africa has a strong record against New Zealand, as the Blackcaps have never defeated South Africa in the World Cup.
They first met in the 2007 World Cup quarter-finals, where the hosts, South Africa, won by 6 wickets.
Their second encounter proved to be a thrilling match, in which South Africa won by just one run in the 2009 T20 World Cup.
South Africa and New Zealand also met in the 2010 World Cup, where the Proteas won by 13 runs in Birmingham.
The Blackcaps suffered their fourth defeat against South Africa in the World Cup in 2014, losing by just two runs.
The most recent meeting between the two teams happened in the group stage of the ongoing World Cup, where the Aiden Markram-led team won by 7 wickets in Ahmedabad.
