Watch: Cole McConchie's two-wicket over put SA on the back foot in SA vs NZ Semifinal 1 of T20 World Cup 2026

The first semifinal of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 between New Zealand and South Africa at the Eden Gardens gave a great chance to the Blackcaps to win their maiden T20 WC game against the Proteas and knock the runners-up from the previous season. They needed to make a great start with the ball, after opting to do the same post-winning the toss.

New Zealand’s captain, Mitchell Santner, brought the off-spinner Cole McConchie into the attack as Quinton de Kock nailed the third ball of the second over down the ground for a sweet boundary as he had enough power to clear the fielder inside the ring. But for the next balls, it was McConchie’s class.

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The fourth delivery was a short ball with no pace on it. The off-spinner got the ball to jump on the left-handed batter, who had no room to smash it as De Kock went for the pull shot and got more height on it than the distance, as Lockie Ferguson, at the mid-on region, took it comfortably.

Cole McConchie dismisses Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton in T20 WC 2026 Semifinal 1

On the very next delivery, McConchie used the short ball again as he put it wide of the off stump. Ryan Rickelton, the left-handed batter, felt that there was a chance to get off the mark and went for the slash, as the ball came off the thick outside half and offered the catching practice to the backward point fielder.

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The off-spinner could actually celebrate a hat-trick as Dewald Brevis, on his very first ball of the innings, got an outside edge as the ball drifted away after pitching and raced away to the boundary rope after getting the edge.

Despite losing both wickets, Aiden Markram, the captain, has been aggressive with his shots and tried to put pressure back on the bowler as the Kiwis made the mistake of dropping his back inside the 30-yard circle, which could prove costly later in the game.

Brief Scores: SA 50/2 (Aiden Markrm 17*, Cole McConhie 2/9) vs NZ.