New Zealand have moved one step closer to securing their first men’s global white-ball title after a breathtaking performance in the T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa on Wednesday. The hero of the night was explosive opener Finn Allen, whose astonishing century powered the Black Caps to a commanding victory over South Africa and booked their place in the tournament’s final.
South Africa, who were described as favourites, were given a massive beating. They had entered the semi-final unbeaten after seven consecutive wins, but they were totally stunned by New Zealand. Speaking after the defeat, South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad openly admitted the flaws.
"I don't know if tonight was a choke. I thought it was a bloody walloping. I think in order for you to choke, you must have had a sniff in the game," Conrad said at the press conference.
"We didn't have a sniff. In South Africa, we say we got moered snotklap, also a South African word meaning a real hiding. I think there'll be enough people that are going to be jumping on the bandwagon," he said.
"But yeah, we did so many special things. I'm so proud of these guys. I don't think many people gave us much of a chance of even getting into a semi-final when we left the shores, given our form before that. But that's no consolation or anything like that. Look, I mean, I think it's cue the abuse now. There'll be enough of it," Conrad added.
South Africa struggled to fully dominate the New Zealand bowling attack as they finished with 169/8, with Marco Jansen top-scoring with 55 unbeaten.
"They strangled us up front; we lost wickets, and we didn't get any sort of momentum going. A hell of a lot didn't go right tonight, but that was probably enforced because they were so good and they never gave us a sniff. I'm not going to sit here and try and make excuses for a bad night. We weren't good and they were excellent," Conrad said.