Over the past few years, South Africa has developed a relationship with the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. From 2023 to 2025, this team has seen several defining chapters in their cricketing history at this venue.
In the 2023 ODI World Cup, after playing a near-perfect campaign, South Africa faltered at the hands of Australia in the semi-finals of the tournament. It marked an important moment for a team that played brilliant cricket throughout the competition but simply didn’t have the mentality to withstand the pressure in the knockout stages.
But then in 2025, South Africa scripted an impressive 2-0 Test series victory over India, the beginning of which happened in the gardens of Eden. And once again, the Rainbow Nation stand in the hallowed halls of Eden as they seek their second successive appearance in the T20 World Cup final.
In front of South Africa is New Zealand, an injured but gritty side capable of surprising on their day. South Africa have beaten New Zealand once in this tournament but remain wary of what Mitchell Santner brings to the table.
South African journalist Telford Vice joked at a press conference that if South Africa had beaten New Zealand once, what was stopping them from doing it again?
The ever witty Markram laughed out loud and replied, “If only cricket was that easy.”
Aiden Markram knows that New Zealand are a quality team who have proved it over the years in ICC tournaments. New Zealand have had a bit of a lull in the T20I format of late and would be keen to turn it around once again on the big stage.
“I don’t think it’s as simple as just repeating it. There are a lot of variables in this game, but the other guys are very excited about the opportunity to play a semi-final against a good team like New Zealand and we’ll try to bring our best game to the fore again,” Markram said.
SA vs NZ: CONTRASTING TRAILS
South Africa and New Zealand couldn’t be further apart in terms of their journeys in this edition of the T20 World Cup. The Proteas were meticulous with their progress and won every single match in the competition. They were pushed hard by Afghanistan, but still managed to pull off a nerve-wracking win.
Markram was proud of the extraordinary performances his players put in during this World Cup.
“Afghanistan are also a world-class team and were in the semi-finals in the previous edition. So any team can beat anyone in the World Cup, especially in this format. It takes one or two special performances and that can be the game,” he said.
It may have also helped that South Africa were put in one place for a very long time during this tournament. The ICC was heavily criticized for allowing the finalists of the previous edition to play most of their matches at a single venue, the city which incidentally also hosts the final of the tournament.
While South Africa found stability in familiarity, New Zealand had to travel a lot. The Kiwis have played in Chennai, Ahmedabad and Colombo and now they have come to Kolkata. South Africa have achieved a lot by playing in Ahmedabad (Courtesy: AP)
New Zealand’s journey to the World Cup has been far from dominant. They lost to South Africa in the group stage, their match against Pakistan in the Super 8s was called off due to rain and they came close to exiting the tournament after losing to England.
After their loss to England, New Zealand’s fate rested in Pakistan’s hands. In the final game of the Super 8s tournament, Pakistan needed to beat Sri Lanka by 65 runs. Salman Agha’s side got out of the blocks quickly and set a mammoth target of 212 runs. The match turned into a nerve-wracking watch for the New Zealanders, who were finally relieved when Pakistan failed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 runs, thanks to a late blitzkrieg from Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka, who scored a defiant 76* off 31 balls.
“I think watching the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match was quite difficult, quite nervous at times. I had a couple of other guys in the room and I had to leave because it was quite difficult,” Santner said. New Zealand did not dominate at their best during the T20 World Cup (Courtesy: AP)
Still, New Zealand are still a strong side and on better batting wickets in India, they certainly have a chance against the Proteas.
On Tuesday, Daryl Mitchell was seen crouching and hitting some big shots against the pitching specialist during practice. If the New Zealand openers can get out of the blocks quickly, it is possible that New Zealand can give South Africa a run for their money in the middle.
KOLKATA: RANGE AND CONDITIONS
The previous match played at Eden Gardens witnessed a high scoring encounter. There was minimal dew in this game due to a strong wind blowing through the stadium, which helped keep conditions relatively dry.
There is zero chance of precipitation today, but the evening is expected to be cool and windy, which should make for pleasant playing conditions.
In the previous game, India won the toss and elected to bowl first. There is no reason why it should be any different today given the conditions on offer.
The pitch for today’s match is the strip right next to the one used in the India match. This surface appeared to have a little more grass than the previous one when observed the day before the game, which could offer some help early on.
SA vs NZ: TEAM NEWS
South Africa have no injury concerns and are likely to go with their best combination. This means that their stalwarts would return to the playing XI for the match against Zimbabwe.
The Kiwis, on the other hand, are sweating over the availability of Matt Henry, who returned from New Zealand last night after attending the birth of his child. If he is jetlagged or not fully fit for the match, Jacob Duffy is likely to take his place in the starting XI.
SA vs NZ: PREDICTED PLAYING XI
South Africa Probable XI
Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
New Zealand Probable XI
Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry/Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson
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Published on:
March 4, 2026 10:01 AM IST
