Dismal déjà vu: another World Cup disappointment for Proteas

Murphy’s Law states: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

- By Yanga Sibembe

And South Africa’s senior men’s cricket team experienced this firsthand in their 2026 T20 World Cup semifinal encounter against New Zealand on Wednesday, 4 March.The Proteas came into the clash with their tails wagging after a relatively comfortable journey throughout the initial stages of the tournament — boasting seven wins from seven matches.

However, the Proteas were soundly outclassed by the Kiwis at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. The New Zealanders were peerless throughout the encounter as they brought down the high-flying South Africans with a nine-wicket walloping.

"I'm not going to sit here and try to make excuses for a bad game,” said Proteas coach Shukri Conrad, who was taking charge of the team for the first time in a World Cup after replacing Rob Walter just under a year ago.

The Proteas were aiming to make a second successive final in the World Cup of the shortest format of international cricket, having made their World Cup decider debut two years ago.

They came up against a New Zealand team that were in a mean mood and they were thoroughly outclassed on the day.

This was despite boasting one of the tournament’s top run-makers, Aiden Markram. His compatriots, bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Corbin Bosch, as well as towering all-rounder Marco Jansen, were in the upper echelons of the tournament's leading wicket-takers.

But in Kolkata they looked like a shadow of the team that had subdued the Kiwis with a seven-wicket win in the group stages. They were not the same team that displayed nerves of steel during their historic double Super Over win against Afghanistan earlier in the tournament.