Update 6 March 2025, 12:02 AM.
Throwing down the gauntlet when close to the title is nothing new for South Africa.
The group stage of every major cricket tournament seems to be full of South Africa’s achievements. Every time after the group stage, it starts to feel like this, this time the tournament title will go to South Africa.
But the African team once again throws away weapons at a big opportunity during the semi-final or final match.
The second semi-final of the Champions Trophy tournament was played between New Zealand and South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium in Pakistan.
The New Zealand captain won the toss and decided to bat first, which was proved right by R. Ravindra, K. Williamson, G. Phillips and D. Mitchell, who scored 362 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in New Zealand’s allotted 50 overs. During this innings, R. Ravindra and K. Williamson scored 108 and 101 runs respectively.
The most successful bowlers from South Africa were L. Ngidi and K. Rabada, who dismissed 3 batsmen for 72 runs and 2 batsmen for 70 runs respectively in the allotted 10 overs.
Apart from South African captain T. Bavuma (56), R. van der Dussen (69) and D. Miller (100), no batsman could perform anything special, due to which the South African team could score 312 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs and lost the semi-final by 50 runs and was eliminated from the tournament. New Zealand captain M. Santner dismissed 3 batsmen for 43 runs in 10 overs. And cleared the way for the New Zealand team to the final.
New Zealand will play the final match against India on March 9 at the Dubai Cricket Ground.