Champions Trophy semi-final: South Africa confident despite travel nightmare

Proteas take on New Zealand in Lahore after a short trip to Dubai while awaiting clarity on venue for last-four clash

South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen, left, and Heinrich Klaasen during their Champions Trophy win over England in Karachi. AP

South Africa will be looking to put a whirlwind couple of days behind them when they take on New Zealand in the Champions Trophy semi-final in Lahore on Wednesday.

The Proteas undertook what has now become a pointless 18-hour trip to Dubai and face a strong New Zealand side for a spot in the final.

The convoluted schedule of the Champions Trophy came into sharp focus after both South Africa and Australia had to fly to the UAE from Pakistan and wait for the result of the group match between India and New Zealand to know their next destination in the tournament.

India's refusal to travel to Pakistan meant all matches involving them were to be played in the UAE. And given the short turnaround between the final group game and semi-finals, organisers decided to bring in all semi-finalists to Dubai on Sunday so that either Australia or South Africa would get an additional day's rest ahead of the Tuesday's first semi-final against India.

After India defeated New Zealand, it was South Africa who ended up with the short end of the stick, forced to travel back to Pakistan the same day and prepare for Wednesday's last-four clash against the Kiwis.

It has been a needlessly hectic few days for all semi-finalists, apart from India, and the lack of fairness in the process is not lost on fans or players.

Making Pakistan lose hosting rights for a significant number of the Champions Trophy matches and asking all other teams to travel back and forth between Pakistan and the UAE has reduced the tournament to a bit of a farce.

Still, there is an ICC trophy at stake and South Africa batter Heinrich Klaasen is confident his players will quickly recover from the travel fatigue.

"It was not ideal for the bodies, but we had some time to get out and walk about. We knew ahead of time that two teams were going to have to travel," Klaasen said.

Kane Williamson has hit form at the right time for New Zealand. Getty Images

"We haven't travelled a lot in this competition to be fair, it was just a crazy 18 hours. We could stretch our legs and recover before we had to come back. It is part of professional cricket these days. There is not much more to say about it."

South Africa reached the semi-finals of the last 50-over World Cup in 2023, and the final of the T20 World Cup last year. The team looked good to challenge for the trophy on both occasions, but fell short.

They had the T20 title within their grasp but fumbled in the final five overs of the chase against India. Klaasen said his team now knows what is needed in crunch situations.

"The nerves are a little bit less because we have more experience in the semi-final department," he said. "We are playing good cricket at ICC events, we have just had some bad luck and things not go our way.

"We are holding our composure in the bigger moments. The big boys just need to step up on Wednesday."

Meanwhile, New Zealand will be banking on the experience they gained in the recent tri-series in Pakistan involving South Africa.

New Zealand chased down 305 against South Africa in Lahore after Kane Williamson scored 133. They also beat hosts Pakistan in the tri-series and are back at a venue that holds many happy memories.

"We're fortunate that we had a tri-series in Pakistan and against South Africa," said wicketkeeper Tom Latham.

"We've got a chance to look back on those experiences and give our best in a semi-final, which is pretty cool," he added.

"We know how strong South Africa are. They've got all bases covered in terms of batting, bowling and in the field. As you look at it, I'm sure it'll be a fantastic game."