Proteas not underestimating ‘quality’ Black Caps in semifinal, says Markram

2026-03-03 - 16:03

Though they remain unbeaten at the tournament, and have already thumped New Zealand, captain Aiden Markram insists the Proteas remain wary of the Black Caps ahead of their semifinal clash at the T20 World Cup in Kolkata on Wednesday (3.30pm start). In the group stages of the showpiece, South Africa coasted to a convincing seven-wicket win over the Black Caps, and New Zealand also went on to lose to England in the Super Eight stage. And while the SA team had won seven games on the trot, Markram said they were bracing for war against their opposition in the penultimate round, with New Zealand sitting one spot above the Proteas in the T20 world rankings. “New Zealand are a quality team. They’ve proved that over many years now,” Markram said yesterday. “We had a good run out against them in the group stages, but both teams have played a lot of cricket since then and it’s a completely fresh start. “It’s a semifinal, which is exciting as well, so I don’t think it’s as straightforward as just being able to repeat that (victory) again. There are a lot of variables in this game. “But the boys are very excited for the opportunity to play in a semifinal against a good team like New Zealand, and we’ll try bring our best game to the front again.” Brushing off ‘favourites’ tag As the only unbeaten team, the SA squad entered the knockout stages of the competition as the favourites to win the title, at least on paper. And though Markram was reluctant to accept that tag, he was hoping they could build on the momentum they had created thus far. “With regards to being favourites, that’s all different people’s opinions,” Markram said. “For us as a team we’re really just trying to focus on putting good games of cricket together and playing the exciting brand we’ve been trying to play in the last 18 months or so. If it comes off then hopefully it’s entertaining and can put us in a good position.” Sticking to their plans The skipper felt it was key for the Proteas to keep doing what they had done to get them to this point, as they looked to progress to the final at the second successive edition of the T20 World Cup. “We’re bringing a lot of confidence into a must-win game, and a lot of trust in the plans and the things we’ve been doing well, so it’s as simple as that for us,” he said. “We’re not trying to do anything different. We will just keep hammering away at the things we’ve done well and have got us here, and if we can execute that well again, we stand a chance.”