Both New Zealand and South Africa will be looking to inch closer to their first ICC trophy in more than two decades on Wednesday in the second semi-final of the Champions Trophy in Lahore.
Both sides are former winners of the Champions Trophy in its past iterations. South Africa won in 1998 and New Zealand were victors in 2000 when the tournament was called the ICC Knockout Trophy.
White-ball title triumphs have eluded both sides since and although both teams have gone far in ICC tournaments, they have never been able to cross the finish line.
This semi-final will be the final Champions Trophy match to be played in Pakistan after India refused to travel to hosts Pakistan over unspecified reasons and qualified for the final match, which will now be held in Dubai.
Both semifinalists have had a rigorous travel itinerary in the lead up to this match due to India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan, with the Champions Trophy schedule coming under heavy fire, many accusing it of favouring India.
New Zealand played Pakistan in the tournament opener on Feb 19 before playing Bangladesh in their second Group ‘A’ game five days later. Their clash against India came another six days later, but it’s been a squeeze between that game and the semi-final, especially since they had to travel from Dubai to Lahore.
South African captain Temba Bavuma hinted on Tuesday that the unnecessary trip to Dubai for his side could have been avoided after the team had to spend an ultimately pointless day in Dubai before reaching Lahore on Monday afternoon ahead of their semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday.
Speaking about the match New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said, “Obviously the first goal was to make it to the semi-finals,” New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner told reporters on Tuesday, with his side having been beaten finalists at the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups while also making it to the final four at the 2023 edition.
“Tomorrow’s match is obviously a knockout and it’s all about whoever can turn up on the day. Hopefully that’s us tomorrow,” he continued.
South Africa lost in the semi-finals at the 2015 and 2023 World Cups. For them, the Champions Trophy is about making the final step and shedding the ‘chokers’ tag.
“We’ll approach it as we normally would,” Bavuma told reporters when asked if there was added pressure. “We obviously want to play our best cricket tomorrow. We understand this year will obviously come with a set of challenges. We will have to play accordingly but I think we’ll consider this just another game, another game for us.”
South Africa go into the match having been unbeaten in their group, although with some fitness concerns over star batter Aiden Markram.
Speaking to Dawn.com after their win against England, when asked about how the players felt about South Africa’s record of not winning an ICC ODI trophy since 1998, South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj had said, “I think those are past generations, we are the more recent generation and I think we’ve had a significant amount of success since then as a nation.”
“We play together as a unit, and we’ve made it to the semi-final of the previous ICC World Cup as well as the final of the T20 World Cup,” Maharaj continued.
“Now we’re looking at another semi-final, and the guys are motivated more than anything,” he said.
“We can’t dwell on the past, but we can pave the way forward,” he added.
New Zealand beat South Africa at the same venue recently, during the tri-nation series that preceded the Champions Trophy. However, South Africa were missing most of their big-hitters.
“I think it [that match] gave us a look at the New Zealand team,” said Bavuma. “I think that team we played against, I don’t think it will be too far from that tomorrow. Obviously from our side it will be different players from that team. I guess there’s a difference there.”
Having lifted the tri-nations title, Santner’s men won their opening two matches of the Champions Trophy against Pakistan and Bangladesh before falling in their final group game to India on a spin track in Dubai. However, they’re now back to familiar pitches in Pakistan and Santner is satisfied with the squad at his disposal.
“I think, like our squad, they’ve got all aspects covered … Lahore will probably not be spinning as much as Dubai. We’ve seen how good Keshav Maharaj has been for a long time and [Tabriz] Shamsi’s there and also Markram can be tidy with the ball.
“So, I think they’re obviously pretty well balanced. I don’t think we’ll potentially get as much spin as there was in Dubai. So, I think that’s better for our batters if it doesn’t spin that much.”
Additional reporting from Umaid Wasim and Abyan Amir
