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 March 5.
For the game, here are our preview and predictions.
The Proteas are coming into this fixture having decimated England in their final Group B encounter to emerge as the group winners with five points. Barring their washed-out fixture against Australia in Rawalpindi, Temba Bavuma & Co 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, Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klassen came good with the bat with half-centuries.
New Zealand, on the other hand, having played some clinical cricket since the beginning of their Pakistan tour, came undone against a spin-heavy India side in 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 order failed to answer any questions posed by the Indian spinners, and they fell short of the target by 44 runs. Losing nine wickets to spinners in the middle and death overs will be a major cause for concern for them.
The wickets in Lahore have favoured batters, with teams batting first posting 300+ scores in the first two games, the exception being the washed-out Afghanistan-Australia game. Moreover, 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 Phillips, Marco Jensen, Matt Henry, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan
Winners Prediction: South Africa
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