At the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, New Zealand defeated South Africa by 50 runs in the second semi-final of the Champions Trophy 2025.
On Sunday, March 9, they will now play India in the championship match of the prestigious ODI tournament’s ninth edition.
Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips scored vital 49-run knocks off 37 and 27 deliveries, respectively, after Rachin Ravindra’s (108), and Kane Williamson’s (102), centuries were scored. The Proteas bowling unit’s standout player was Lungi Ngidi, who took three wickets while giving up 72 runs in his allotted 10-overs.
Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma put together a crucial stand for the second wicket as the run-chase approached. They both appeared to be serious threats as they reached their respective fifties. But Mitchell Santner’s outstanding spell was sufficient to put the opposition on the defensive. David Miller, who earned a well-earned tonne on the game’s last delivery, bravely held the fort by himself to play an incredible knock in a losing cause.
Talking Points
1. Rachin Ravindra’s love affair with ICC events continues
Rachin’s classic 101-ball knock meant he had more centuries (5) in ICC ODI tournaments than a list of legends of the game like Sanath Jayasuriya, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, and Steve Waugh, to name a few.
2. Mitchell Santner’s web of destruction proves brutal for South Africa
Santner’s guile was too hot to handle for South Africa. He dismissed the well-set Bavuma and van der Dussen before picking up the big wicket of Heinrich Klaasen. Santner’s exquisite 10-over spell yielded figures of 3/43.
3. David Miller delivers another knockout gem
Be it the semi-finals of the 2015 and 2023 editions of the Cricket World Cup or the final of the T20 World Cup 2024, Miller has always stood tall. This game was yet another display of his sheer brilliance. Unfortunately, like previous exhibitions, this knock too came in a losing cause. Miller’s 67-ball ton was the fastest in the history of the tournament.
Who Said What?
Player of the Match, Rachin Ravindra
Great feeling to contribute to an emphatic win in a semi-final. I didn’t start as well as I wanted, SA bowled well, but once we got going it was nice build partnerships with Kane and Young. It was nice to go with the ebbs and flows of one-day cricket.
We were thinking around 300 as cutters were holding, and SA were getting bounce, but then the game started accelerating nicely, and Glenn and Mitchell finished great. Thing with tournament cricket is what’s next and then what. Important to soak in the win today, celebrate the team together and get around each other. Once we get to Dubai we’ll switch back on.
Winning captain, Mitchell Santner
It’s a pretty good feeling, today we were challenged by a good side, we will head to Dubai where we already faced India earlier. We will rest and will go again. It was holding a bit in the first innings but Rachin and WIlliiamson set the stage and the guys finishing it put the icing on the cake. We took wickets in the middle overs and made it tough for the opposition.
What we speak as a group is to apply pressure and take wickets in the middle. Michael Bracewell bowled really well in the last game to take a 4-fer. It was really pleasing for me to take three scalps today. It makes my job easier, we have four all-rounders who can bowl spin and they can bat as well. Rachin’s five overs were great, have to wait and see how Matt Henry’s shoulder is. It’s a bit sore, we have to wait for a couple of days and see.
(On Williamson) He keeps doing it, that partnership was massive for us, he was able to keep going in the middle phase, South Africa challenged us but we were able to cash in and score 360. We felt 320 might not be enough. (On their loss against India in Dubai) Being there and being put under pressure was good. I think the bowlers bowled well to chip wickets at the top. I think winning the toss will be nice as well.
Losing captain, Temba Bavuma
(On the target) I do think it was above-par. Probably if it was 350, we would have backed ourselves to chase the score. We had one or two partnerships today but we needed me or Rassie to go on and emulate what two of their batters did. They really put us under pressure from the word go, the way they were able to pierce the off-side at the start and the way they played in the middle overs.
Kudos to them, credit to their batters, Rachin and Williamson and even the batters who came in, Mitchell and Phillips. We were 125/1 and me and Rassie were still batting. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to set that foundation for them. A bit of a soft dismissal for me and a better dismissal for Rassie and we left too much for them in the end.
Like I said in the beginning, like I mentioned that we were 125/1, we had to be more decisive, not give an opportunity for the opposition to come back and being ruthless. We needed to take care of the key moments in the game.
India
