New Zealand will play India in the Champions Trophy final after a clinical 50-run win over South Africa in Lahore on Wednesday. Rachin Ravindra made 108 and Kane Williamson scored 102 as New Zealand posted an imposing 362-6 in the second semi-final before Mitchell Santner grabbed 3-43 to restrict South Africa to 312-9 in 50 overs. New Zealand will meet India for the title in Dubai on Sunday. Ravindra cracked a 101-ball 108 while Williamson hit 102 off 94 balls on a batting-friendly Gaddafi Stadium pitch after New Zealand won the toss and batted first. Daryl Mitchell clubbed 49 off 37 balls and Glenn Phillips smashed a 27-ball 49 not out as the Black Caps plundered 110 runs in the last 10 overs and 66 in the last five. South Africa\u2019s bowling line-up struggled right from the start as Ravindra and Will Young (21) put on 48 for the opening stand. It was followed by a magnificent 164-run stand for the second wicket between Ravindra and Williamson that put the New Zealanders on track for a massive total, as the duo scored at will with some delightful strokes. Ravindra completed his fifth ODI hundred \u2014 all coming in ICC events \u2014 from 93 balls with a two off Kagiso Rabada. Williamson reached his 15th ODI hundred with a ramped boundary, his third three-figure score in as many matches against South Africa. It was Rabada who finally ended the partnership by dismissing Ravindra caught behind. Ravindra hit 13 fours and one six in total. Williamson chipped Wiaan Mulder into the hands of Lungi Ngidi in the 40th over after hitting 10 fours and two sixes. Mitchell and Phillips added some late impetus after South Africa had briefly dragged things back to give themselves hope of limiting the score to under 350. Fast bowler Ngidi finished with 3-72, while Rabada ended with figures of 2-70. Australia posted the previous highest Champions Trophy total with a successful chase of 356-5 against England in the group stage, also in Lahore, giving the Proteas hope that they can still reach the final. Both sides are former winners of the Champions Trophy in its past iterations. South Africa won in 1998 and New Zealand were victors in 2000 when the tournament was called the ICC Knockout Trophy. White-ball title triumphs have eluded both sides since and although both teams have gone far in ICC tournaments, they have never been able to cross the finish line. This semi-final was the final Champions Trophy match to be played in Pakistan after India refused to travel to hosts Pakistan over unspecified reasons and qualified for the final match, which will now be held in Dubai. Both semifinalists have had a rigorous travel itinerary in the lead up to this match due to India\u2019s refusal to travel to Pakistan, with the Champions Trophy schedule coming under heavy fire, many accusing it of favouring India. New Zealand played Pakistan in the tournament opener on Feb 19 before playing Bangladesh in their second Group \u2018A\u2019 game five days later. Their clash against India came another six days later, but it\u2019s been a squeeze between that game and the semi-final, especially since they had to travel from Dubai to Lahore. South African captain Temba Bavuma hinted on Tuesday that the unnecessary trip to Dubai for his side could have been avoided after the team had to spend an ultimately pointless day in Dubai before reaching Lahore on Monday afternoon ahead of their semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday. Speaking about the match, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said, \u201cObviously the first goal was to make it to the semi-finals,\u201d while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, with his side having been beaten finalists at the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups while also making it to the final four at the 2023 edition. \u201cTomorrow\u2019s match is obviously a knockout and it\u2019s all about whoever can turn up on the day. Hopefully that\u2019s us tomorrow,\u201d he continued. South Africa lost in the semi-finals at the 2015 and 2023 World Cups. For them, the Champions Trophy was about making the final step and shedding the \u2018chokers\u2019 tag. \u201cWe\u2019ll approach it as we normally would,\u201d Bavuma told reporters when asked if there was added pressure. \u201cWe obviously want to play our best cricket tomorrow. We understand this year will obviously come with a set of challenges. We will have to play accordingly but I think we\u2019ll consider this just another game, another game for us.\u201d South Africa went into the match having been unbeaten in their group, although with some fitness concerns over star batter Aiden Markram. Speaking to Dawn.com after their win against England, when asked about how the players felt about South Africa\u2019s record of not winning an ICC ODI trophy since 1998, South Africa\u2019s Keshav Maharaj had said, \u201cI think those are past generations, we are the more recent generation and I think we\u2019ve had a significant amount of success since then as a nation.\u201d \u201cWe play together as a unit, and we\u2019ve made it to the semi-final of the previous ICC World Cup as well as the final of the T20 World Cup,\u201d Maharaj continued. \u201cNow we\u2019re looking at another semi-final, and the guys are motivated more than anything,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t dwell on the past, but we can pave the way forward,\u201d he added. New Zealand beat South Africa at the same venue recently, during the tri-nation series that preceded the Champions Trophy. However, South Africa were missing most of their big-hitters. \u201cI think it [that match] gave us a look at the New Zealand team,\u201d said Bavuma. \u201cI think that team we played against, I don\u2019t think it will be too far from that tomorrow. Obviously from our side it will be different players from that team. I guess there\u2019s a difference there.\u201d Having lifted the tri-nations title, Santner\u2019s men won their opening two matches of the Champions Trophy against Pakistan and Bangladesh before falling in their final group game to India on a spin track in Dubai. However, they\u2019re now back to familiar pitches in Pakistan and Santner is satisfied with the squad at his disposal. \u201cI think, like our squad, they\u2019ve got all aspects covered \u2026 Lahore will probably not be spinning as much as Dubai. We\u2019ve seen how good Keshav Maharaj has been for a long time and [Tabriz] Shamsi\u2019s there and also Markram can be tidy with the ball. \u201cSo, I think they\u2019re obviously pretty well balanced. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll potentially get as much spin as there was in Dubai. So, I think that\u2019s better for our batters if it doesn\u2019t spin that much.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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