KOLKATA: South African coach Shukri Conrad on Wednesday made no excuses and called his team’s nine-wicket defeat by New Zealand in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup a “walloping”.
South Africa, the 2024 runners-up, were unbeaten going into the knockout match in Kolkata but were blown away after New Zealand chased down their target of 170 with 7.1 overs to spare.
New Zealand opener Finn Allen hit the fastest-ever T20 World Cup century in 33 balls to send his team through to the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Often called “chokers” for failing in the knockouts of top global competitions, South Africa once again faltered on the big stage.
“I don’t know if tonight was a choke, I thought it was a bloody walloping,” Conrad told reporters.
“If you want to be choked, you might as well have had a snook in the game.
“Tonight we got a proper snotklap, a South African word meaning a real hiding.”
He added: “I’m so proud of all these guys. I don’t think many people gave us much of a chance of even getting to a semi-final when we left the shores.
“But that’s no consolation for anything like that.”
New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first and their bowlers rattled South Africa, who slumped to 77-5 before reaching 169-8.
The bowling came under attack from Allen and Tim Seifert, who hit 58, as the pair put on 117 runs for the opening wicket to run away with the chase.
Allen finished the game with two fours, two sixes and a four off successive balls to hit the winning runs and reach his hundred with a roar of delight at the Eden Gardens.
“We chose a really crappy time to have a bad night,” said Conrad.
“There’s obviously a lot to be said about playing all those games (in Ahmedabad) and not having played anything in some of the other states. But again, that’s no excuse.” South Africa played five of their seven matches in Ahmedabad, including two statement wins over holders India and the West Indies in the Super Eights stage.
In the semi-final, South Africa were left playing catch up after they lost half their side in 10.2 overs and despite Marco Jansen’s unbeaten 55 ended well short on a wicket where India chased down 196 against the West Indies on Sunday.
“They strangled us up front, lost wickets, didn’t get any sort of momentum going,” said Conrad. “Not a
lot of it went right tonight but that was probably enforced because they were so good and they never gave us a sniff.”
‘South Africa won’t dwell on cup exit”
Given their form going into the semi-final, South Africa expected to compete better against New Zealand but are philosophical about their defeat in a format where momentum can swing quickly.
It marked yet another World Cup failure for the South Africans, but captain Aiden Markram said there was no other option but to look ahead to the next tournament.
“We’ll reflect as a group,” Markram said. “But I am very proud of these guys. They played some really good cricket throughout this competition and it was just an unfortunate evening, really.
“The halfway point, we really felt like we had a sniff. But then, as it goes in T20 cricket, their powerplay got off to a flyer, and you can’t protect every boundary. They got away, and then from there it was really hard to pull it back.
“All you do is you break down the game and try to find the areas that could have been better. And you get back on the horse and you try and improve as a group and as individuals. And hopefully that puts you in good stead for the future.”
South Africa’s next assignment is a five-match T20 series in New Zealand starting on March 15, though only three of the World Cup squad, spinners Keshav Maharaj and George Linde, and all-rounder Jason Smith, will take part.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2026
