ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 34: South Africa vs United Arab Emirates | Preview and Predictions
South Africa were the first team to book their spot in the Super Eights after demolishing New Zealand and are looking like a proper title contender as Aiden Markram’s boys are looking to go one better than last time. They will face the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who still have an outside chance after their win over Canada.
Here, we present our preview and predictions for the 34th game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 between South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 34: SA vs UAE | 11:00, February 18, 2026
The Proteas have booked their place in the Super Eights and will look to use their final Group Stage match to fine tune any chinks and also make sure that they continue their strong form. Their captain Aiden Markram is one of the leading run scorers in the tournament so far while Lungi Ngidi is the second highest wicket taker in the World Cup so far, as the South Africa team looks like they have all their bases covered.
The batting has been near perfect with Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock providing the Proteas with explosive starts while the middle and lower order has closed out games with David Miller, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs all finding runs towards the death. While most of the wickets in the ongoing World Cup 2026 has been from the spinners and slower bowlers, South Africa’s bowling has been carried by their pacers as Lungi Ngidi has led from the front with regular wickets and has been ably supported by the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Marcos Jansen and Corbin Bosch. If there is something they would want to fix before the Super Eights, it would be getting Keshav Maharaj, their lead spinner, into the mix of things.
The UAE meanwhile, come into this game on the back of their first win of the tournament against Canada and they know that their qualification to the next stage is still in their hands as they have to win both their remaining games. The UAE put up a commendable batting performance against New Zealand with Alishan Sharafu and Muhamad Waseem getting crucial half centuries and Aryansh Sharma and Sohaib Khan joined the list with their half-centuries against Canada. UAE will hope that their middle order gets amongst the runs soon though. The bowling has been an issue for the UAE squad though with them going wicket-less in their opening game before Junaid Siddique’s 5/35 seeing them pick up six against Canada. The bowling unit was economical against Canada but UAE know that against a stronger batting unit, they need wickets to stand a chance to win games.
The Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi is one of the rare grounds in this World Cup that has seen a lot of runs and runs will be on offer once again with the Proteas starting as the overwhelming favourites in this encounter.
Fantasy XI: Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Waseem, Tristan Stubbs, Sohaib Khan, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada (vc), Lungi Ngidi, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique
Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Winners Prediction: South Africa
