Kolkata: New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first in the first semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 against South Africa at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
Playing XIs
South Africa: Aiden Markrum (catch), Quinton de Kock (VK), Ryan Rickleton, Devald Previs, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Johnson, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Nkiti.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (week), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (catch), James Neesham, Cole McKenzie, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson.
head-to-head
South Africa and New Zealand have met head-to-head 19 times in T20Is, with the former holding the head-to-head record with 12 wins, compared to seven for the Blackcaps.
However, in the T20 World Cup, South Africa have an impressive record of 5-0 against New Zealand.
Matches: 19
South Africa: 12
New Zealand: 7
Form Guide
South Africa and New Zealand are unbeaten in the 20-team tournament and the Blackcaps qualified for the semi-finals thanks to a higher net run rate than Pakistan as they suffered defeats in the group and Super Eight stages.
Marco Johnson’s four wickets and skipper Aidan Markram’s unbeaten half-century saw South Africa win by seven wickets.
South Africa: W, W, W, W, W (Most recent first)
New Zealand: L, W, NR, W, L