Match 14 of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy brings us a mouth watering semi final encounter between South Africa and New Zealand which will be contested at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 5th March 2025.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 | Semifinal 2 South Africa vs New Zealand | 14:30 IST, March 5th
The Proteas are coming into this knockout fixture having decimated England in their final Group B encounter to emerge as the Group winner with five points. Except their washed out fixture against Australia at Rawalpindi, Temba Bavuma’s team have looked in imperious form both with bat and bowl with new players stepping up every other game.
Marco Jensen came forward with the ball, decimating the England top-order inside the PowerPlay with quality contributions from Wiaan Mulder and Keshav Maharaj restricting England to 179. Chasing a modest 180, both Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klassen came good with the bat scoring crucial half centuries before this crucial knockout match.
New Zealand, on the other hand, having played some clinical cricket since the beginning of their Pakistan tour, came undone against a spin-heavy Indian side at Dubai in their final Group A encounter.
The Kiwi seamers, especially Matt Henry, took wickets at regular intervals, restricting India to a par score of 249 on a tacky Dubai wicket. However, the New Zealand middle-over failed to answer any questions posed by the Indian spinner, as they fell short of the target by 44 runs. However, losing nine wickets to spinners in the middle and death overs will be a major cause for concern.
The wickets in Lahore have favoured batters, with teams batting first posting 300+ scores in each innings of the first two games, with the exception being the Afghanistan vs Australia washed out game. Moreover, unlike the other venue, Lahore has seen dew come into effect. Thus, the team winning the toss should look to bowl first and chase.
Fantasy XI: Ryan Rickelton, Heinrich Klassen (c), Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (vc), Rassie van der Dussen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Philips, Marco Jensen, Matt Henry, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj
Venue: Lahore, Pakistan
Winners Prediction: South Africa
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