The first semi-final match of the 2026 T20 World Cup will be played between South Africa and New Zealand. This great match will be played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, which will start at 7 pm Indian time. Both the teams are looking very dangerous, but in the first semi-final match, not South Africa but New Zealand is going to write new history.
On one hand, South Africa has been unbeaten in the tournament so far and seems to be a strong contender to become the champion. But on the other hand, there is New Zealand, which will enter the field for the first time with the intention of defeating South Africa in the T20 World Cup.
New Zealand will write a new history
In the history of T20 World Cup, South Africa and New Zealand have come face to face a total of 5 times. But the truth is that New Zealand has never defeated South Africa in the T20 World Cup. That was the quarterfinal match of 2007, when these two teams met for the first time in the T20 World Cup, since then the Kiwi team has been continuously losing to South Africa.
Under the captaincy of Mitchell Santner, New Zealand will have a chance to end the 19-year long drought of victory against South Africa in the T20 World Cup by defeating them in the semi-final match. It will not be easy for New Zealand to do this because till now South Africa has been dominating the entire tournament.
Who is ahead in head to head record?
Talking about the total head to head record in international T20 cricket, South Africa and New Zealand have clashed 19 times. In these 19 matches, South Africa has won 12 times and New Zealand has won 7 times. When these two met in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup, South Africa had won an easy 7 wickets.
