1st Semi Final - New Zealand v South Africa (4th March)

[RossTaylorsBox]

Stop ruining my narrative!!

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

Stop ruining my narrative!!

Okay NZ sucks

 

[NZTailender]

Not quite following this, If NZ aren't deserving of making the semis in your view, what other team deserves to be in their place & why?

I guess by me saying "finals" you took that to include semis but I meant the final; that's on me for not being specific. I kind of expected NZ could make the semis since we have a track record of doing that no matter how good or bad our side is, but that's as far as I thought we'd go.

Overall India and SA seem a class above, with England not far behind, then some daylight to the rest of the pack. By rights the final should be India vs SA but an England vs NZ final would be pretty funny tbf.

 

[Zinzan]

I guess by me saying "finals" you took that to include semis but I meant the final; that's on me for not being specific.

Overall India and SA seem a class above, with England not far behind, then some daylight to the rest of the pack. by rights the final should Be India vs SA but an England vs NZ final would be pretty funny tbf.

Yeah I thought you meant the play-offs. I'm not convinced England are actually much better than us now that we’ve got the likes of Ferguson and Allen in the side, compared with the team we rolled out against them at home prior the Ashes. I thought we had them on toast on Saturday as well, right up until Santner made that horrible tactical call to bowl Phillips in the 18th over against two right‑handers..& that 22 run over completely flipped the game.

As for the SA game, I agree they’ve got the edge on us, but not by as much as you’re implying. And in our round robin match, they’d already played on that Ahmedabad pitch for a couple of games, while we came in from Chennai and lost a pretty important toss.

I do think India most definitely have the wood on us in T20s, as the recent 1-4 margin indicated, but SA much less so, and England maybe only by a whisker... & most def not daylight.

 

[ankitj]

Not quite following this, If NZ aren't deserving of making the semis in your view, what other team deserves to be in their place & why?

All group stage toppers were in the same super 8 group. WI could well have replaced NZ in semi if the super 8 was composed right.

 

[Prince EWS]

Disagree ..

NZ defeated Afghanistan,
Afghanistan are a quality team but they were done dirty by the ICC, not only in the toughest group but their first two games were NZ and SA they weren't allowed to ease themselves into the competition. I would have backed them to qualify from Sri Lanka's group or England’s group.

And then beating the hosts is never easy. Against England it was only a tactical error that cost the game.

Yeah this is a bit exaggerated, but fair. NZ had the toughest group stage group and had to beat a good side to progress from it. Afghanistan in these conditions are equal to or better than Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe (and Australia).

 

[ankitj]

Although I remember we said this about NZ qualification in 2019 world cup too and they went on to play the final and didn't lose.

 

[Moss]

Although I remember we said this about NZ qualification in 2019 world cup too and they went on to play the final and didn't lose.

In that tournament NZ’s batting issues (KW was pretty much carrying the lineup) meant that people forgot they had a very good bowling attack for the conditions, and importantly the pitches during the knockouts brought them into the contest.

Kind of a similar story here in that NZ are much more of a threat on pitches like the RPS, but games in India will make it tougher you feel.

 

[Sunil1z]

On Indian pitches Finn Allen will win you game in 6 overs . So it evens out.

 

[Moss]

On Indian pitches Finn Allen will win you game in 6 overs . So it evens out.

Agreed, Allen firing vs Allen being dismissed early is a major difference on the outcome.

 

[Prince EWS]

Finn Allen can bosh a six.

 

[ashley bach]

Finn Allen can bosh a six.

Much like Prince EWS can bosh a beer

 

[Prince EWS]

Much like Prince EWS can bosh a beer

And you now know from experience.

 

[Stefan9]

In a knockout game anything is possible. Its who handles the pressure best.
I am backing my boys.

 

[SeamUp]

Kolkata looked very good for batting last night.

We had a nice test win there just over 3 months ago.

But damn, how does a team keep up their performances like we have so far. It is the concerning thing for me.

 

[Heboric]

In a knockout game anything is possible.

Its amplified 10x in T20. Get a ball that creeps along the ground, get out to a miracle catch, the opponent batter keeps sloging and it lands in the gaps all the time.

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

Kolkata looked very good for batting last night.

We had a nice test win there just over 3 months ago.

But damn, how does a team keep up their performances like we have so far. It is the concerning thing for me.

Yeah that is the concerning part and where Conrad must earn his money as a coach.

Our style of play in the group stage was bullish , blasting through teams with pace and power, in a knockout game can these lads play with the same freedom and confidence, they need to play the same way, don't change the way you play just because its a semi final.

 

[Adders]

Much like Prince EWS can bosh a beer

And then bosh a poster after hes had 6.

 

[SeamUp]

South Africa v New Zealand
On-Field Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG) & Alex Wharf (ENG)
Third Umpire: Nitin Menon (IND)
Fourth Umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

 

[SeamUp]

One will be going down tomorrow.

New Zealand have beaten South Africa in the 2011 WC QF, 2015 WC SF & 2025 CT SF

South African have beaten New Zealand 5 times in T20 WCs & New Zealand have never beaten SA in T20 WCs