We will find out who India will face in the final of the Champions Trophy on Wednesday when the second semi-final takes place as South Africa look to reach another global title showdown when they meet a solid New Zealand side.
South Africa reached the final of the T20 World Cup last year and will be looking to set up another crack with India for a trophy but New Zealand have shown their 50 over pedigree multiple times over the last decade and will fancy their chances here in Lahore.
South Africa
There is no doubt that South Africa went into this tournament as fancied runners but the hype and expectancy around them was diluted a little in the lead up to the competition because they lost some key bowlers from their depth chart. That has probably helped them a little bit because we know that they still aren’t the best side when the pressure is on them. They came through their group very comfortably but in England and Afghanistan you do wonder what they beat.
We knew going into the competition that if South Africa were going to get anywhere in this event their batters would need to be the ones to do it, and they have been, but the Proteas bowlers will surely take a lot of confidence from the way they bowled England out at the weekend and if they can bowl that well here then they would have every chance. You still would expect their batters to be the ones to get them over the line however.
New Zealand
New Zealand went into this tournament as underrated outsiders, a position that they seem to have occupied for the last 20 years or so, but once again they are just one win away from getting themselves into a global final. They qualified for this semi-final by coming second in their group but they were into the last four long before they headed to Dubai to take on India in their last group game and how much we can read into that result remains to be seen.
I guess you could argue the case that the amount of travelling they have had to do could catch up with them here but they won the Pakistan Tri-series in the lead up to the tournament and have been comfortable winners of both of their matches in Pakistan in this tournament. Their batting has shown its quality throughout the competition and they have had enough with the ball, especially in keeping teams in check in the powerplay, to take some of the pressure off of their batters. They look primed to go well here.
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Team News
South Africa have a major doubt over Aiden Markram for this match after he appeared to damage his hamstring against England last time out. That was serious enough for them to call George Linde up as a travelling reserve but Tony de Zorzi is expected to replace Markram if he doesn’t make it here.
New Zealand don’t have any selection problems when it comes to injury but they do have the nice headache of having to leave out one of Will Young, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra or Daryl Mitchell. That is expected to be their only change in this match.
Betting
If you have followed me throughout this competition then you will already be on New Zealand to win this match at just over 5/2 having backed them before a ball was bowled and a win here would secure the place money from the outright bet but if you are not on then I would recommend getting on here at odds against in a match where I actually have New Zealand as the favourites to win not just on what we’ve seen in this tournament but the fact that they beat South Africa in the Pakistan Tri-series in the lead up to the event.
That South Africa side was weaker than the one which will go out onto the field here but I still think New Zealand have them covered. I think there is more depth in this New Zealand batting department and I don’t think that there is too much between the two bowling units. New Zealand saw off a competent Pakistan side on home soil and pushed India close enough. South Africa are yet to be tested in this event and I think they face their first one here. We know that the Proteas can sometimes get in their own way when the pressure heightens at these tournaments so I’ll recommend backing New Zealand here if you haven’t already backed them outright.
Tips
Back New Zealand to beat South Africa for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
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