South Africa have won seven consecutive matches at the T20 World Cup so far and are only two wins away from winning their second ICC trophy within the last 12 months. They have beaten their semifinal opponents, New Zealand, earlier in the group stage and looking at their current form, are the clear favourites to make it to the final of the competition. But with everything going smoothly for them, will the law of averages work against the Proteas in the first semifinal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata?
Well, Aiden Markram shook his head and swallowed a laugh when the India TV reporter Koustav Sengupta asked him this question. The South African skipper, however, was honest in his response, first up stating that anything can happen on the match day. However, he made it clear soon after saying that his team has been doing very well throughout the tournament and is confident of putting up a good show in a must-win game.
“I don’t know how it’s going to work out tomorrow night, none of us do.ย You can look at [the semi-final] through various different lenses. If you want to look at it through that, then I don’t think you’d be a very clever man if you’re sitting in our changing room. I think you want to look at it from the side where we bring in a lot of confidence into a must-win game, and a lot of trust in the plans and the things that we’ve been doing well,” he said in the pre-match press conference.
Stats in favour of South Africa but knockouts aren’t
Irrespective of the law of averages, stats are favouring South Africa as they have never lost to New Zealand in five matches at the T20 World Cup. Yes, the two teams locked horns in the mega event after 12 years on February 14 in the group stage but history didn’t chase as the Proteas made it 5-0 against the Kiwis with a comfortable seven-wicket win.
However, when it comes to the knockouts of ICC events, South Africa have a clean slate and New Zealand suddenly become a dominant force. They are locking horns in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup for the first time but in three ODI World Cup knockouts, New Zealand have had the wood over the team from the rainbow nation. World Cup 2011, 2015 and Champions Trophy 2025, South Africa ended up losing, and they would be keen on exorcising the knockout ghost against New Zealand.
Will they be able to do it? Only time will tell…
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