SA vs NZ Playing-11: Will these 3 attacking players return to the South African team? Semi-final match against New Zealand

4 South Africa will face New Zealand in the first semifinal of the 2026 T20 World Cup on March 4. The match will start at 7 pm at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday with the toss taking place half an hour earlier at 6:30 pm. South Africa are unbeaten in the tournament so far. The team made it to the semifinals by winning all its matches. Meanwhile, New Zealand lost to South Africa in the group stage. Subsequently, their Super 8 matches against Pakistan were washed out due to rain. The team then lost to England.

Kiwis will try their best

paper, South Africa have the upper hand, but it cannot be ignored that the Kiwis have the ability to beat any big team. No one considers them favorites, but they have reached the 2021 T20 World Cup, 2022 T20 World Cup, 2023 ODI World Cup Semi-Final and 2025 Champions Trophy Final. Most of the players are the same as the players from the previous tournament. Only Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult are inexperienced in the team

South Africa's hand up 

T20 format. South Africa and New Zealand have faced each other 19 times in the shortest format of cricket, with South Africa winning 12 of them. New Zealand have won only seven. Meanwhile, South Africa has a 100% win record against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup. A total of five matches have been played between the two in the tournament, with South Africa winning five. However, the two teams have never met in the knockout stage of the T20 World Cup.

This will be the first time the two teams will face each other in the knockout stage of the T20 World Cup. The two teams have faced each other three times in the knockout stage of the ICC tournament, with South Africa losing all three times. New Zealand defeated South Africa by 49 runs in the quarterfinals of the 2011 ODI World Cup. In the 2015 ODI World Cup semifinals, the Kiwis defeated the Proteas by four wickets. New Zealand again beat South Africa by 50 runs in the semi-finals of the 2025 Champions Trophy. All three matches were 50 overs.

All South African players in form 

Aiden Markram is in superb form with the bat for South Africa. Markram has scored 268 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 175. Ryan Rickleton has also been consistently making significant contributions with the bat. Ricklett scored 228 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 171; Runs scored. Quinton de Kock has also given the team a strong start with his brilliant batting in the powerplay. In bowling,   Ngidi has been South Africa's highest wicket-taker in this World Cup. Ngidi has taken 12 wickets in six matches so far. Corbin Bose has taken 11 wickets. Rabada also bowled lethal in the Super 8 match against the West Indies. However, he could not play against Zimbabwe.

New Zealand are also in excellent form

On the other hand, New Zealand have also looked in excellent form. With the bat, Tim Seifert scored 157 in six matches; Strike rate of 216   Runs scored. Meanwhile, Rachin Ravindra has been consistently contributing with both bat and ball. Glenn Phillips has also stabilised New Zealand's innings. Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson have done well in bowling

South Africa made three changes to their playing XI for their previous match against Zimbabwe. He rested three key players: Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen. He was replaced by Anrich Nortje, Kwena Mafaka and George Linde. Rabada, Yannansen and Maharaj could be back for the semifinals.