Despite Sikandar Raza’s all-round heroics, South Africa won by five wickets. The first semi-final will be held in Kolkata.
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Published March 1, 2026
South Africa showed great all-round ability from Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza to survive, registering a five-wicket victory over their neighbors and book a place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals against New Zealand.
South Africa overcame an early wobble to defeat a spirited Zimbabwe by a score of 153-7 in their final Super Eight match in New Delhi on Sunday.
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Dewald Brevis hit 42 off 18 balls as the 2024 runners-up reached 154-5 in 17.5 overs and remained the only unbeaten team in the tournament.
Raza opened with a 73 before off-spin to give Zimbabwe a 3-29 lead as they dominated Australia and co-host Sri Lanka in the group stage to advance to the Super Eight.
Raza hit the third ball of South Africa’s chase to drive back Quinton de Kock for a duck, and in the next over he bowled skipper Aiden Markram for four.
Ryan Rickelton was hit in the helmet by bouncer Brad Evans and took five minutes to recover. He then lifted Evans for two consecutive sixes in the next over before the bowler caught him for 31.
Brevis, who hit 22, and David Miller hit 50 before Zimbabwe converted two more quick runs.
Blessing Muzarabani sacked Miller and Raza sacked Brevis.
Tristan Stubbs (age 21) and George Linde (age 30) then went on an unbeaten run of 53 games and steered the team toward its goal.
Selecting their batsmen, Zimbabwe lost in-form opening batsman Brian Bennett, who hit an unbeaten 97 in the loss to India, for 15.
Raza reached 50 off 29 balls but fell to left-hander Kwena Mafaka and was caught by Miller from the leading edge. Clive Madande hit 26 off 20 balls not out in the end to push the total up.
Mapaka took 2-21 from four overs, while Corbin Bosch took 2-40.
The semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand will be held on Wednesday at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, starting at 1:30pm Japan time. Al Jazeera’s live coverage of the match will begin at 10:30 a.m. Japan time.
