SA vs NZ: Captain Markram walks tall as Proteas eye second straight final

The Kolkata crowd would have ideally craved for a semi-final featuring the Men in Blue on the day of Holi festival – but seems to have reconciled with the prospect of enjoying an intriguing battle on Wednesday evening.

South Africa, the 2024 runners-up, have looked every bit of a contender to lay their hands on the ICC T20 World Cup for the first time but one can only write off the Kiwis at their own peril.

The shortest format may be a game of small margins where reputations often go for a toss, but it’s fair to say four of the most deserving teams have made the top four.

Champions India may have just hit the right combination on time, two-time winners England have come to terms with the sub-continent conditions while the Proteas are equipped to go all guns blazing to make second final in a row against a New Zealand which flew under the radar.

Talk about a talismanic captain in the entire tournament and the vote has to go to Aiden Markram, who stood larger-than-life even keeping in the mind the likes of Suryakumar Yadav or the classy Harry Brook.

Markram, whose forlorn figure after losing the 2024 final by an agonising nine runs to India remains etched in memory, has played the quintessential leader by giving his team blazing starts (he has the highest strike rate of 175.16 among openers in the tournament with an aggregate of 268 runs) as well as with his handy off spin and astute captaincy.

‘’My batter’s  self takes over from the captain when I am out in the middle,’’ the soft spoken Markram said at the pre-match press conference, expressing satisfaction at the way they had been performing across all formats – with the World Test Championship (WTC) being the crowning glory.

Talking about a shift in his batting approach, Markram said: ‘’Yes, there has been a conscious effort to attack as there is not much option when you are opening in T20 format. The idea is to give the team a strong start in powerplay after which you need to be a little smarter.’’  

The build-up to the first semi-final is being dominated by talk of a match-up between Markram and Mitchell Santner, the left-arm spinner and Kiwi captain who is being hailed as one of the smartest brains in the game in this format.

It’s important to note how the South African management planned to maximise the role of Markram on top of the order from being a steadying hand in number three or four – while the return of Quinton de Kock to international cricket has given the opening pair a heavyweight look.

  The roots of Markram’s transformation, many feel, can be traced to franchise cricket. The introduction of the ‘Impact Player’ rule in the Indian Premier League has given top-order batters greater freedom to take risks and Markram – who moved onto Lucknow Super Giants after a long stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad, has embraced that attacking mindset.

His current strike rate is nearly 40 points higher than his career T20I average of around 136, a clear indication that this is not merely a run of form but a deliberate shift in approach.

 Technically, Markram remains the same batter who looks so balanced at the crease, strong through the wrists and capable of playing the ball late. He is comfortable on the backfoot against pace and equally assured stepping out to attack spin, making him a multidimensional presence at the top.

The Proteas, with a power hitting line-up comprising Markram, Quinton De Kock, Dewald Brevis, Ryan Rickleton, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller and Marco Jansen, can be quite a handful on the belter of a wicket which Eden has on offer. The onus will be on Santner, with an economy rate of 6.35, and his men to take the pace off the ball to keep the batters quiet. Santner will have Rachin Ravindra (nine wickets at less than 7 ER), Glenn Phillips, Cole McConchie for company though it may be tough to contain the Proteas during a chase.

 This is be the best spin attack that Proteas would face in the tournament, barring of course India, although England with Liam Dawson and Rehan Ahmed wasn’t bad either. What New Zealand lack is a quality wrist spinner to challenge South Africa as Ish Sodhi hasn't exactly been great in the few games that he has played so far.

Catch the match

First semi-final

South Africa vs New Zealand

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

 Start: 7 pm