New Zealand have benched star spinner Ish Sodhi in their semi-final clash against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Revealing the reason behind the move, captain Mitchell Santner explained that it’s purely strategic as they preferred a pace-bowling all-rounder in James Neesham for Sodhi. Adding to that, Santner mentioned that on Sri Lankan pitches, playing an extra spinner made sense but the conditions at Eden is pretty different and that made them tweak the combination.
“We've got one change from our Colombo game. It's probably not going to spin as much over as it did over there, so Neesham is back in for Ish (Sodhi),” Santner said after the toss.
Meanwhile, ace pacer Matt Henry also made his return to the playing XI. He had left the competition earlier for the birth of his child. However, the 34-year-old returned only last night and is already back in action.
New Zealand opt to bowl first
New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bowl first. It could prove to be a very crucial decision, given that the dew usually plays a part in the second innings in Kolkata. South Africa captain Aiden Markram addressed the same, noting that there’s a dew factor but since it’s a knockout game, they would hope to bat well and put the pressure on the Kiwis.
“There's a slight dew factor. We trained here last night. There was a little bit of moisture around. But again you can put runs on the board up front in a knockout game and that's not always the worst thing. So, yeah, important to start well and hopefully get a good score,” Markram said.
Playing XI of South Africa and New Zealand
New Zealand: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson
South Africa: Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
