The second semi-finals of Champions Trophy 2025 witnessed South Africa taking on New Zealand. The winner of the game will take on India in the finals which is to be played this Sunday in Dubai. Mitchell Santner decided to bat first after winning the toss. Kiwi openers Rachin Ravindra and Will Young decided to attack the South African bowlers right from the start.
Both batters weren’t troubled by Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi who opened the bowling for South Africa. The first over of the game produced just two runs. The next few overs saw boundaries start to flow as Ravindra and Young played delightful shots. Young Ravindra in particular took on Jansen and hit three successive fours in the seventh over.
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South Africa finally broke their 48 run stand for the first wicket when Will Young was out to Lungi Ngidi. The 32-year-old batter went for a huge shot straight down the ground but the slower ball from Ngidi meant that Young couldn’t time the ball. Aiden Markram settled with the ball and took an easy catch as Young was out for 21. New Zealand were placed at 56 for one at the end of ten overs.
Cracking game in prospect as India awaits its opponents
Rohit Sharma’s team India were the first team to qualify for the finals after beating Australia by four wickets. New Zealand and South Africa played an exciting semi finals in the 2015 World Cup which the Kiwis went onto win. The Kiwis came into the game at the back of their 44-run loss to India. South Africa on the other hand had beaten England by seven wickets to finish top of Group B.
Speaking at the toss, Mitchell Santner said, “We are gonna have a bat first, looks like a good wicket, looks a bit dry. Privileged to captain my country and for us it's to play good cricket. We got the same team. Last game was foreign conditions, we have played a few games here in the tri-series. Will try to play good cricket and put pressure on them.”
South African skipper Bavuma said, “We are not too concerned but the preference would have been to bat, our bowlers need to bowl well and then our batters need to do the job. We have had learnings from semi-finals and finals. We need to win the key moments. We are doing a lot of work, lots of confidence, it's another game for us irrespective of it being the semi-final.”
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