Key events
“This is going to be tight isn’t it,” says Ruth Purdue. “Fair play for SA for battling through past 150. Are we going to see the old South Africa or the new world beaters? Do you think the Proteas have the best bowling lineup in the tournament?”
I’d probably take India’s on paper but in this tournament SA have been the best I guess. They’re the only team going at less than eight an over with the ball. How they cope with the dew will probably decide this game.
20th over: South Africa 169-6 (Jansen 55, Maharaj 1) Maharaj dabs the hat-trick ball for a single to get Jansen on strike for the last delivery of the innings. He scruffs a yorker down the ground for two to complete an outstanding last over from Matt Henry: six runs, two wickets. New Zealand need 170 to win.
WICKET! South Africa 166-8 (Rabada c Neesham b Henry 0)
Poor batting from Kagiso Rabada, who chips his first ball to Neesham at long on. That means Jansen stays off strike.
WICKET! South Africa 166-7 (Bosch b Henry 2)
Matt Henry takes care of Corbin Bosch with an immaculate yorker. Three balls remaining; South Africa need Jansen to face the last two.
19th over: South Africa 163-6 (Jansen 52, Bosch 1) Jansen continues a gem of an innings by cuffing a short ball from Ferguson over mid-on for six. He drives the next ball over long-on for six more to reach a coruscating 27-ball fifty, including 31 from the last nine deliveries.
WICKET! South Africa 150-6 (Stubbs b Ferguson 29)
Fabulous bowling from Lockie Ferguson, who goes round the wicket to the right-handed Stubbs and cleans him up with a slower ball. Stubbs goes for a handy 24-ball 29; there are 11 deliveries remaining.
18th over: South Africa 150-5 (Stubbs 29, Jansen 40) Tristan Stubbs wallops Neesham for 10 runs in two deliveries – four down the ground, six pulled meatily into the crowd. Stubbs, who was was 13 not out from 18 balls, has hit 16 from his last five.
Jansen does the same thing to end a huge over for South Africa. First he touches a bad delivery to fine leg, then he carts a pull over midwicket for six. Twenty-two from the over, 37 from the last two. South Africa are right back in this.
17th over: South Africa 128-5 (Stubbs 18, Jansen 29) Jansen starts South Africa’s death march – don’t worry, in cricket that’s a positive thing – by swinging Henry handsomely into the crowd at midwicket. He is such a clean hitter of the ball.
Stubbs slugs four more before hitting a single to bring up the fifty partnership from 43 balls. Fifteen from the over.
16th over: South Africa 113-5 (Stubbs 12, Jansen 21) Santner bowls a couple of wides but concedes only three off the bat in his final over. He finishes with 4-0-25-0.
With the important caveat that nobody knows anything, it feels like New Zealand are well on top here.
15th over: South Africa 108-5 (Stubbs 10, Jansen 20) Lockie Ferguson comes back into the attack. Stubbs cracks an extra cover drive that is half stopped by the diving fielder, a fine effort that saved three runs. But it was a no-ball so South Africa have a free hit. Ferguson restricts them to a single with a fine yorker.
Six singles, a no-ball and a dot ball = seven from the over.
14th over: South Africa 101-5 (Stubbs 7, Jansen 17) Jansen dances down the pitch to drive Ravindra for a seriously elegant straight six. Seifert tries to take a catch near short leg when Stubbs pushed at Ravindra, though I think it hit only the pad. Doesn’t matter because Seifert couldn’t reach it.
Ravindra finishes his spell with figures of 4-0-29-2.
13th over: South Africa 91-5 (Stubbs 5, Jansen 9) Santner concedes three from his first five balls, only for Jansen to edge the last past the keeper for four. South Africa needed that.
12th over: South Africa 84-5 (Stubbs 3, Jansen 4) Rachin Ravindra’s day started miserably when he dropped Markram. Now, after a boundaryless over, he has superb figures of 3-0-19-2.
In the context of the most recent game on this ground, when India chased 196 to beat West Indies, New Zealand are in a terrific position. This pitch feels slightly slower, but South Africa surely need at least 150.
11th over: South Africa 80-5 (Stubbs 1, Jansen 2) Marco Jansen, a bruising hitter but not necessarily a man you want coming in as early as the 11th over, is the new batter. He and Tristan Stubbs will have to take a couple of overs to get their bearings.
WICKET! South Africa 77-5 (Brevis c Santner b Neesham 34)
South Africa are officially in the malodorous stuff. The dangerman Brevis has driven Jimmy Neesham straight to extra cover and is on his way for 34. That was a bit of a nothing shot, particularly for such a decisive and devastating strokeplayer.
10th over: South Africa 77-4 (Brevis 34, Stubbs 0) Rachin Ravindra now has 11 wickets at this World Cup, two fewer than the clubhouse leaders Shadley Van Schalkwyk and Blessing Muzarabani.
WICKET! South Africa 77-4 (Miller c Mitchell b Ravindra 6)
Miller has been dropped by Glenn Phillips! He launched Ravindra over extra cover but didn’t quite hold of the shot. Phillips charged round with time to spare, only to get in a awkward position as he tried to take the catch. The ball hit him in the chest rather than nestling in the hands.
Later in the over Brevis hits Ravindra over wide mid-on for an entirely ludicrous one-handed six. Wow. Brevis looks so dangerous. Trouble is, he might need to do it on his own because South Africa keep losing wickets.
Miller, reprieved earlier in the over, holes out to Mitchell at long-off and is on his way for 6. That was a much simpler catch – but it’s another Brobdingnagian wicket for New Zealand.
9th over: South Africa 67-3 (Brevis 27, Miller 3) Oh, hi! Brevis makes room to pummel the first ball of Santner’s second over for a humongous six over long-on. If you are not familiar with Dewald Brevis, he’s 22 years old and obscenely talented. He could hit sixes in the Colosseum.
Four singles make it a handy over for South Africa. This game is beautifully poised, just the way us neutrals like it.
8th over: South Africa 57-3 (Brevis 19, Miller 1) The TV commentators, Pommie Mbangwa and Danny Morrison, are not entirely convinced it was a clean catch by Mitchell. Interesting.
WICKET! South Africa 55-3 (Markram c Mitchell b Ravindra 18)
Rachin Ravindra, who dropped Markram on 3, has picked him up with the ball! Markram hammered Ravindra down the ground and was caught just about the ground by Daryl Mitchell. It went to upstairs, which led to the usual argument about whether he got his fingers under the ball. I thought he did, and more importantly so did the third umpire. That’s an excellent catch, and a huge wicket for New Zealand.
7th over: South Africa 52-2 (Markram 17, Brevis 17) Seifert has passed a concussion test but is going to keep wicket in a helmet. With the Powerplay done, the New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, the craftiest of left-arm spinners, comes into the attack.
His first over, full of subtlety and variation, yields only four singles for South Africa. It hasn’t been the kind of flying start we’re used to from South Africa but I think they’ll be pretty happy with their recovery from 12 for 2. If they keep wickets in hand they could be devastating at the death.
6th over: South Africa 48-2 (Markram 16, Brevis 15) A sharp lifter from Ferguson beats Brevis and gets really big on the keeper Seifert, who can only deflect it into his face. I think he’s okay but the physio has come on during the drinks break. Being hit in the coupon by a Lockie Ferguson delivery can’t be much of an experience.
5th over: South Africa 45-2 (Markram 15, Brevis 14) Markram was an unfulfilled talent for so long, almost a decade, but these days he bats with a formidable combination of authority and skill. When the new bowler Jimmy Neesham tries to follow him outside leg stump, Markram clips wristily into the crowd at midwicket. Some shot, that.
Brevis turns a good over into a huge one – 17 from it – by cover-driving successive boundaries. Brilliant batting.
4th over: South Africa 28-2 (Markram 8, Brevis 5) Two right-handers at the crease now, so McConchie is replaced by the rapid Lockie Ferguson. Markram clips his third ball towards midwicket, where Ravindra drops a pretty simple chance. You’ve just dropped the T20 World Cup, etc.
Ravindra was in a similar position to Herschelle Gibbs when he famously dropped Steve Waugh in 1999. Markram, who pumped 86 not out against New Zealand in the group stage, salts the wound by lashing the next ball over the off side for four.
3rd over: South Africa 22-2 (Markram 3, Brevis 4) Henry swings a rare loose delivery down the leg side for five wides. That aside it’s a tight and accurate over, with only one single from the six legitimate deliveries.
“If Matt Henry does well today having flown from (essentially) one side of the world to the other, scurried into the hospital ward to watch his child arrive, then flown back again and run (splendidly) onto the ground the next day to deliver those corridor-of-uncertainty pearls whilst processing total flight-based delirium, he deserves an OBE,” writes Ben Bernards. “I suspect he will in fact be collared mercilessly.”
2nd over: South Africa 16-2 (Markram 2, Brevis 4) Dewald Brevis snicks the hat-trick ball wide of the keeper for four!
That over is surely one of the greatest moments of McConchie’s career. He’s 34, playing only his 16th T20 international, and before today he had never taken a wicket at a World Cup. Cricket can be such an old charmer when it wants.
WICKET! South Africa 12-2 (Rickelton c Allen b McConchie 0)
Two in two balls! Ryan Rickelton slashes his first ball – a bit of a long hop in truth – straight to backward point and walks off shaking his head.
WICKET! South Africa 12-1 (De Kock c Ferguson b McConchie 10)
The offspinner Cole McConchie takes the new ball for only the second time in the competition – and the plan pays off in spade. De Kock skipped down to hit a majestic four but pulled the next ball high in the air and was easily taken at mid-on by Lockie Ferguson. That’s the fourth time in this World Cup that De Kock has been out to an offspinner.
1st over: South Africa 7-0 (Markram 1, De Kock 6) Henry starts with a very tight line, particularly to De Kock, who is so dangerous when he can free his arms. After three dot balls in a row, Henry drops slightly short and is mullered over square leg for a big six. A reminder that a bowler’s margin for error in this format is almost non-existent.
“Hello Rob,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “If a match between Australia and India is tge one where you want both to lose this one is where you want both of them to win. Winning all their matches has never been a good sign when you enter the knockout stage and on that statistic I will go with New Zealand reaching the final.”
I think South Africa will be too strong, but the toss makes it maybe a 55/45 match.
It’ll be fascinating to see who opens the bowling along with Matt Henry. There is some talk that Mitchell Santner, who rarely bowls in the Powerplay, might start in the hope of stifling his opposite number Aiden Markram. The trouble with that is that the left-handed Quinton de Kock could do damage against Santner’s left-arm spin, plus you lose at least one over from Santner later in the innings.
This week’s Spin is a particularly good read
Team news
South Africa, who rested some players for their last Super Eight game againt Zimbabwe, have made three changes. David Miller, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada return in place of George Linde, Anrich Nortje and Kwena Maphaka.
New Zealand bring in Jimmy Neesham for Ish Sodhi, who was preferred on the more spin-friendly surfaces in Colombo. Neesh for Ish. The outstanding Matt Henry has made it back after returning home for the birth of his second child.
South Africa Markram (c), De Kock (wk), Rickelton, Brevis, Miller, Stubbs, Jansen, Bosch, Rabada, Maharaj, Ngidi.
New Zealand Seifert (wk), Allen, Ravindra, Phillips, Chapman, Mitchell, Santner (c), McConchie, Neesham, Henry, Ferguson.
New Zealand win the toss and bowl
That’s a pretty good toss to win, as discussed earlier. “There’s a slight dew factor,” says South Africa captain Aiden Markram. “But if you can put runs on the board in a knockout game, it’s not always the worst thing.”
Simon Burnton
“I wish cricket was that easy,” said Aiden Markram, the South Africa captain and the highest-scoring batter remaining in the competition. “Both teams have played a lot of cricket since [SA beat New Zealand in the group stage] and it’s a completely fresh start. I don’t think it’s as straightforward as being able to repeat that again. With regards to us being favourites or not, that’s all different people’s opinions.”
Mitchell Santner insisted the teams reconvene as equals. “Whether you want to call us underdogs or not, for us it was everyone’s goal throughout the tournament to get to this stage. We’re here now, and we back ourselves in one-off games against most teams,” he said. “South Africa look a very good outfit but they’re in the same boat as us now – it’s one game and you’re into a final.”
Preamble
How can you mend a broken heart? South Africa and New Zealand hope to find out in the next few days. These are the heartbreak kids of men’s white-ball cricket: they’ve never won a World Cup, and between them they have lost four finals and 17 semi-finals.
It’ll be 18 after today’s game, but the winners will have to chance to find the Holy Grail in Ahmedabad on Sunday. South Africa have been the best team in the tournament; no ifs, no buts, no sneery ch- words. They thrashed India in the Super Eights and have won all seven games, even if they needed two Super Overs to beat Afghanistan.
New Zealand were beaten by South Africa in the first group stage and needed help from Sri Lanka to qualify for the semi-final ahead of Pakistan. They haven’t lit up the tournament but they’re in the last four, as per, and only a complete eejit would take them for granted.
In fact, New Zealand will arguably be the favourites if they win the toss. It’s often a big factor in Kolkata, where the dew makes it preferable to bat last. We’ll soon find out who has that advantage.
