South Africa vs New Zealand Preview & Prediction | 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup | Semi-Final

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The only nation yet to lose in the competition, South Africa takes on New Zealand in a rematch from the group stage.

Date & time:

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India

Weather: Sunshine at the start of play, before giving way to clear skies with light winds throughout and temperatures dropping into the mid-twenties. 

How to watch: UK – Sky Sports & Sky Go / USA – Willow TV

South Africa vs New Zealand prediction

South Africa were seven-wicket winners the last time these two sides locked horns earlier in the tournament, chasing down 176 with 17 balls to spare as every South African batter who spent time at the crease played an important role, each scoring at least 20 runs with captain Aiden Markram anchoring the innings with a fantastic 86 from just 44 balls. New Zealand’s had no answer to the Proteas on that occasion and they will be up against it once more in this semi-final.

Since that match, South Africa have gone on to win four times more, whilst the Black Caps reached the semi-finals on net-run-rate despite losing to England by four wickets last time out. Whilst New Zealand boast a batting order with significant depth, they just don’t have the power that South Africa do on paper. The Proteas have been arguably the best team in the competition so far with their bowlers backing up this formidable batting unit that no nation has been able to contain. On what is likely to be another excellent surface in Kolkata which saw 394 runs scored at the ground between India and West Indies most recently, South Africa look very much the team worth backing to reach their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final.

South Africa vs New Zealand tip: South Africa to win