It all slipped away so quickly through the fingers of South Africa that they stood there at the end of the match, heads sunken to the ground in disbelief. A team that had huffed and puffed their way into the semi-final of the T20 World Cup crushed them by nine wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
South Africa, pitch-perfect till the semi-final of the competition, bombed badly on Wednesday, March 4, failing with both bat and ball. Defending a total of 169 runs, the Proteas were pummelled by New Zealand openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert, who helped chase down the target in just 12.5 overs.
Edges flew to the boundaries, scoop shots connected cleanly from the middle of the bat, and catches either dropped short or landed in no man’s land — Lady Luck did not favour South Africa at all on the night. And there might be good reason for it.
SA vs NZ, T20 World Cup semi-final: Highlights | Scorecard
South Africa made a jittery start to the game, losing Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton early in the powerplay. Aiden Markram and David Miller, two of the most senior campaigners in the South African side, had the responsibility of rescuing the Rainbow Nation from crisis, but they failed to make their chances count as well. Batting first after losing the toss, Markram, who had played exceptionally well in the tournament, ended up hitting straight to Daryl Mitchell at long-on, 13 balls after being dropped by Rachin Ravindra at mid-wicket.
Miller, South Africa’s knight in shining armour against India earlier in the tournament, ended up handing a simple high catch only two balls after Glenn Phillips had dropped a sitter at deep cover.
Luck does not favour those who make the occasion bigger than it is. Luck does not favour those who retreat into their shell the moment an important day arrives. Luck does not favour those who refuse to play the brand of cricket that has made them successful, especially on days of consequence.
If not for a sensational counter-attack from Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs at the back end of the innings, South Africa would not have crossed 160. Jansen, who has had a complicated relationship with the Eden Gardens in the past, scored 55* off just 30 balls, helping the Proteas reach a respectable total.
FINN ALLEN, SEIFERT DEMOLISH SOUTH AFRICA
But Eden — where Jansen once leaked runs at eight per over in a low-scoring game — came back to haunt him again. With the ball, Jansen conceded 29 runs in his first two overs in the powerplay, at a time when South Africa were desperately searching for early wickets.
There was no luck to be had for Jansen, who managed to find the edge twice, but one flew away for four while the other dropped just short of Ryan Rickelton at slip.
Those two overs set the tone for South Africa on Wednesday, as they failed to exert any pressure at all in the semi-final at the Eden Gardens.
Finn Allen and Tim Seifert’s drives, pulls and scoops came straight off the middle of the bat. With every blow, the South African shoulders sank a little lower, with the misery finally ending in the 13th over through a lofted drive from Finn Allen — fittingly — which took him to 100* in the game.
Seifert hit 58 off 33 balls, taking New Zealand to 117 in the 10th over. By the time star pacer Kagiso Rabada finally breached Seifert’s defence, the game was effectively done.
Finn Allen, on the other hand, dominated both pacers and spinners to hit a match-winning century off just 33 balls, helping New Zealand book their first T20 World Cup final since 2021.
It was a telling indictment of the mental assurance that New Zealand possess, despite enduring several difficulties throughout this World Cup campaign.
First, they were nearly knocked out of the tournament after their loss to England in the Super 8s. Their presence in the semi-final depended on Pakistan not securing a win by a sufficient margin. The way Pakistan began their final Super 8s game against Sri Lanka, half the Kiwi team might have started packing their bags. But destiny intervened, and they were eventually able to board a flight to Kolkata.
To go from such severe uncertainty and then produce this kind of destructive performance requires immense mental resilience, and New Zealand showed that they had plenty of it.
More to follow…
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