Lahore, Mar 5: New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in the second semifinal of 2025 Champions Trophy at Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.

The winner of the match will face India in the title clash in Dubai on Sunday. It’s also the last game of this tournament to be staged in Pakistan. After winning the toss, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said his playing eleven is unchanged from their 44-run loss to India in Dubai.

“Looks like a good wicket, looks a bit dry. Privileged to captain my country and for us it's to play good cricket. Last game was foreign conditions, but we have played a few games here in the tri-series. Will try to play good cricket and put pressure on them,” he said.

South Africa will be captained by Temba Bavuma, who is back after missing the last game against England due to illness. Bavuma comes in for Tristan Stubbs, while Aiden Markram retains his place after making a sufficient recovery from a hamstring issue during the win over England.

“We are not too concerned but the preference would have been to bat, our bowlers need to bowl well and then our batters need to do the job. I'm feeling much better. We have had learnings from semi-finals and finals. We need to win the key moments. We are doing a lot of work, lots of confidence, it's another game for us irrespective of it being the semi-final,” he said.

Playing XIs

New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, and William O’Rourke

South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, and Lungi Ngidi

(IANS)

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