Champions Trophy 2025: New Zealand vs South Africa, Semifinal 2 Stats Review: Highest totals, fastest centuries in Champions Trophy, and other stats

In the second semifinal of the prestigious 50-over competition, Team New Zealand (NZ) defeated South Africa (SA) handily to go to the Champions Trophy 2025 final. The final game of the competition will take place in Pakistan, the official host nation.

New Zealand opted to bat first after winning the toss, and they started off very well. The wicket of Will Young, however, upset the calm start, but a spectacular 164-run partnership between Rachin Ravindra (108 off 101) and Kane Williamson (102 off 94) effectively ended South Africa’s chances of winning the match. In the last overs, Daryl Mitchell (49 off 37) and Glenn Phillips (49* off 27) provided the dark horses with just what they needed, pushing them to a commanding 362.

Early in the hunt, South Africa lost Ryan Rickelton and became stranded. Rassie van der Dussen’s (69 off 66) and Temba Bavuma’s (56 off 71) cautious but steady stand of 105 was the chase’s turning point. However, after breaking that record, Mitchell Santner (3/43) and the other bowlers from New Zealand continued to cause problems for the Proteas due to the pressure of a constantly rising asking rate.

David Miller (100* off 67) felt he was fighting a hopeless battle, yet he still walked out and crossed boundaries at the end. South Africa was effectively spared the embarrassment of an early all-out and a three-figure margin loss because to the southpaw’s innings. Although Miller remained undefeated on a hundred (100* off 67) off the final ball of the chase, his boundaries gave some life to a dead contest, but it was in vain.

 Here are most important stats from NZ vs SA semifinal 2 of Champions Trophy 2025: 

1 – Kane Williamson became the first Kiwi batter to aggregate 19,000 runs in international cricket.

4 – Of all the batters to have made 19,000 runs in international cricket, Kane Williamson is the fourth fastest to the landmark by the number of innings taken. Williamson took 440 innings to the milestone and only Virat Kohli (399), Sachin Tendulkar (432) and Brian Lara (433) have gotten there quicker.

1 – Rachin Ravindra became the first batter to score each of his first five ODI hundreds in ICC ODI tournaments. All four of Mahmudullah’s ODI hundreds have also come in ICC events.

1 – No one has gotten to the landmark of 5 centuries in ICC ODI events faster than Rachin Ravindra who has gotten there in 13 innings.

1 – Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson’s partnership of 164 is the highest for any wicket in this edition of the Champions Trophy.

5,6 – Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson marked the fifth instance of two players scoring hundreds in the same innings in an ICC knockout match. It was also the sixth such instance in the Champions Trophy. Will Young and Tom Latham also emulated the feat in the opening match of the Champions Trophy 2025 against Pakistan in Lahore.

1 – New Zealand’s total of 362 is now the highest in the Champions Trophy, beating the 356 Australia made against England earlier in this tournament, also at Lahore.

3 – New Zealand’s total of 362 is the third-highest in an ICC ODI knockout match. India piled on 397 against New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup while New Zealand themselves had amassed 393 against West Indies in the quarterfinal of the 2015 World Cup.

1 – David Miller’s century off 67 balls is now the fastest in the history of the Champions Trophy breaking the previous record of 77 jointly held by Virender Sehwag and Josh Inglis.

1 – Miller’s century is also the joint fastest in any ICC ODI knockout match. Shreyas Iyer had reached his century off 67 balls against New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup as well.

2 – David Miller’s batting average of 116.67 in ICC knockout matches is the second-best of any player in this phase with a minimum of 300 runs. Saeed Anwar’s 128.33 is the highest.

6 – South Africa have lost all six ICC knockout matches in which David Miller has walked out to bat for them. In the two knockout games that Miller played and wasn’t needed with the bat, the Proteas won.

3 – New Zealand made their third Champions Trophy final, joint second-most with the West Indies. India are at the top having entered their fifth final after defeating Australia in the other semifinal.

12 – This tournament marks the 12th time that South Africa have been eliminated from the semifinal stages of an ICC tournament. New Zealand and Pakistan with 11 and 10 instances are next.