PUNE: The last time South Africa and New Zealand faced each other in the knockout of the ODI World Cup, at Eden Park in Auckland, Grant Elliott broke the hearts of millions of South Africans with the six over long-on with just one ball to spare. That took New Zealand to the final of the 2015 WC, but their Trans-Tasman rivals proved to be too strong at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Kiwis dusted themselves off to make the final of the 2019 edition of the ODI WC, only to get their hearts broken over a boundary count rule while struggling South Africa couldn't make it to the semifinal.
A lot has changed since then for both teams.
After the retirement of Faf du Plessis, the Temba Bavuma-led side has seen the rise of the likes of Heinrich Klaasen and resurgence of the players like Quinton de Kock, David Miller, and Aiden Markram. De Kock, playing his final WC for the country is currently at the top of the run charts, while Markram and Klaasen have scored 300+ runs in the competition. With the bat, while batting first, South Africa has showcased the value of saving the wickets and going gung-ho in the death overs. This has been possible because of one of the strongest middle order in the competition, backed by Marco Jansen, who has been exceptional with the ball, but handy with the bat as well.
The nervy chase against Pakistan in Chennai did test the Proteas, but their spinners, mainly Tabraiz Shamsi came to the party in Chennai. Jansen and Kagiso Rabada, make a very potent new ball attack, with Gerald Coetzee marshaling the middle overs. Their bowling has not disappointed them in the tournament so far, but they have an opportunity to put the batting collapse against the Netherlands behind them and get closer to sealing the semifinal spot with a win over New Zealand in Pune.
New Zealand, on the other hand, is going through a mid-tournament slump after starting with four back-to-back wins. The Dharamsala leg of the competition was not that fruitful for the Kiwis as they lost to India despite Daryl Mitchell's century and couldn't close off the tense finish against Australia. In the absence of injured Kane Williamson, Tom Latham has led the side exceptionally well. Rachin Ravindra, at the age, has been the mainstay of the team. Along with him, Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham were the stars of the show against Australia even in the loss.
The Kiwi bowling unit got a shock against the Aussie when Travis Head and David Warner added 175 runs in just 19 overs, but the bowlers, led by Glenn Phillips and Trent Boult pulled things back. Hopefully, they have learned their lessons in that fixture, considering how dangerous South African top-order can get. The recent results at the tournament suggest that the side chasing the total has a good chance to come out victorious. That may be the situation, but these two sides have to fight it out to make their case for the semifinal spot.
