South Africa players during the first T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal in Kolkata. (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI: South Africa’s dream run at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 came to a crashing halt on Wednesday night as New Zealand handed them a crushing nine-wicket defeat in the semifinal. And head coach Shukri Conrad did not hold back while describing what unfolded.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Speaking after the match, Conrad dismissed suggestions that South Africa had “choked” under pressure — a tag that has followed them in global tournaments for decades.“I don’t know if tonight was a choke. I thought it was a bloody walloping,” Conrad said bluntly. “In order for you to choke, you must have had a sniff in the game. We didn’t have a sniff.”

Chasing a competitive 170, New Zealand made a mockery of the target. Opener Finn Allen produced a historic assault, smashing an unbeaten 100 off just 33 balls — the fastest century in the tournament’s history — while Tim Seifert hammered a 33-ball 58. The chase was wrapped up in just 12.5 overs, leaving South Africa stunned.Conrad even dipped into his native Afrikaans to sum up the scale of the defeat.“Tonight we got a proper ‘snotklap’,” he said. “That’s an Afrikaans word for a real hiding, a smack you don’t see coming. That’s what it felt like.”Earlier, New Zealand’s bowlers had laid the platform. Cole McConchie struck twice in the second over, removing Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton in consecutive deliveries. Spinners then tightened the screws as South Africa’s middle order — including Aiden Markram, David Miller and Dewald Brevis — failed to gain momentum.A late counterattack from Marco Jansen, who smashed an unbeaten 55 off 30 balls, and Tristan Stubbs helped South Africa reach 169, but the total proved nowhere near enough.“They strangled us up front and we never got any momentum,” Conrad admitted. “A hell of a lot didn’t go right tonight — but that was probably enforced because they were so good.”Despite the heavy defeat, Conrad said he remained proud of his team, who entered the semifinal as the tournament’s only unbeaten side with seven consecutive wins.“I thought we did some exceptional stuff throughout the tournament,” he said. “Not many people gave us a chance of making the semifinals when we left home. I’m incredibly proud of these guys — even if that’s no consolation right now.”

India vs South Africa (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

NEW DELHI: South Africa hammered India by 76 runs in their opening Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup, handing the hosts a reality check and exposing serious flaws in their batting at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Chasing 188, India collapsed to 111 in 18.5 overs on a tricky surface, with the Proteas bowlers dominating throughout. Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Corbin Bosch led a collective bowling effort, while Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliant spell earlier in the game went in vain. For South Africa, David Miller, Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs played crucial roles in lifting the total to 187/7 after an early wobble.

After the match, South Africa captain Aiden Markram praised his team for reading the conditions well and executing their plans. “Great performance. Very different type of wicket to what we’ve had here, so great to see the boys assess that pretty early and adapt their skills to execute their plans,” he said at the post-match presentation. Markram highlighted the importance of the Miller-Brevis partnership, adding, “I think first and foremost was the partnership. (Miller and Brevis) The guys were great, put that together for us, steadied the ship and kept us in the game.”He explained how the team adjusted its approach in the latter half of the innings, noting, “so it was about finding space where we could run hard, drop the ego and take as much as we could at the back end.” Markram also praised his bowling group, calling their performance a big boost after a slow start to the tournament. “We’re going to make mistakes, we don’t mind that as a group, so we’ll brush those aside. We feel like Lungi is a threat whenever he bowls and that he can take wickets for us in that middle phase. It depends on conditions,” he added.Looking ahead, he warned against complacency, describing West Indies as “a dangerous T20 side” and stressing the need to stay sharp for the upcoming clash.India, meanwhile, endured a disastrous batting display. Early wickets put them on the back foot, and none of the top-order batters managed to build a meaningful innings on a surface where the ball gripped, and timing was difficult. Even Suryakumar Yadav struggled to find fluency, while the middle order could not recover from the early collapse. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube tried to rebuild, but South Africa’s disciplined bowling plans shut down any late fightback.

South Africa’s Corbin Bosch celebrates after taking the wicket of UAE’s Aryansh Sharma during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between South Africa and UAE, at Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi.

TimesofIndia.com in New Delhi: South Africa will go into the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage with a massive morale boost after beating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 6-wickets on Wednesday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.Already qualified for the next round, South Africa got the icing on the cake with an unbeaten run through, despite rain disrupting proceedings before the second innings.

Despite the weather gods playing a role, there was no loss of overs as South Africa began their chase of 123 in their trademark aggressive style.Aiden Markram (28) and Quinton de Kock (14) provided the early impetus.Dhruv Parashar dismissed dangerous Ryan Rickelton (30). Dewald Brevis (36) soon followed. But it was already too late. Tristan Stubbs (7) and Jason Smith (2) finished the job, taking the Proteas over the line as floodlights stayed on during the morning fixture.On the eve of the match, the sun was shining brightly, and the weather was as pleasant as a typical February afternoon in Delhi.But almost 24 hours later, conditions had changed drastically, with rain, steady gusts sweeping across the stadium and enough moisture in the air to make the pacers lick their lips.At the toss, skipper Aiden Markram opted to bowl first after assessing the conditions.“Obviously, a bit of rain around. There’s been moisture in here this morning, and we’ll be able to maybe find something in the wicket up front,” he said.However, the start betrayed that feeling of early help for the pacers as UAE openers Muhammad Waseem (22) and Aryansh Sharma (13) took on the Proteas pace trio of Kagiso Rabada (0/30), Kwena Maphaka (0/30) and Anrich Nortje (2/28) with some serious resolution.In the first four overs, they amassed 36 runs without losing a wicket. But George Linde (1/17) and Corbin Bosch (3/12) halted their progress, sending both openers back in successive overs.Alishan Sharafu, one of the most dependable batters in the UAE line-up, once again rose to the occasion to keep the scoreboard ticking, while Sohaib Khan (6) and Syed Haider (6) had a subpar day in the office.A few more could have followed if South Africa had been sharper in the field.Sharafu missed out on his second half-century of the tournament as he fell for 45 to Nortje.Despite being wicketless in the first four overs, the Protea pacers had the final laugh, with all six wickets falling to them.However, heading into the Super Eight, Rabada’s wicket drought and the fielding standards could be a couple of concerns for the 2024 T20 World Cup’s runners-up.