Conrad embraces favourites tag

Proteas head coach, Shukri Conrad, says the team has embraced the favourites tag as they head into Wednesday’s T20 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand as the tournament’s only unbeaten side.

South Africa secured their place in the last four after beating Zimbabwe by five wickets in their last Super Eights match in New Delhi on Sunday.

Their opponents New Zealand sneaked into the semi-finals with a better net run-rate than Pakistan, and will enter Wednesday’s clash in Kolkata as the underdogs.

“There’s always pressure and and it’s really about embracing that pressure,” Conrad said.

“And we don’t do things any differently, we’re going to prepare exactly the same way for New Zealand whether we start as favourites probably because we’re the only unbeaten side in the competition.”

“I always felt that as a South African team you want to be able to play as a favourite and because it’s easy being an underdog you know the expectation isn’t great,” he added.

South Africa will be aiming to secure a place in the final and take a step closer to lifting their first-ever Cricket World Cup trophy.

From Delhi to Kolkata. ✈️#TheProteas journey south-east to the City of Joy for their Semi-Final clash on Wednesday. 🏏🇿🇦#Unbreakable #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/yL4sH6rW1v

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) March 2, 2026

Written by: Ntsako Mukhari