New Zealand vs South Africa Prediction: Who Wins on Nov 1st?

The contest between both elite sides will take place on November 1.

South Africa are ranked second in the points table with 10 points, whereas New Zealand are ranked third with 8 points.

Both teams have performed extremely well in the tournament so far, with SA losing once in their six games and NZ twice. The Proteas lost to the Netherlands and the Kiwis to India and Australia.

Both teams have almost booked their spot in the final-four, but this is the time to fetch important points and hunt for the second spot.

The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune will host the match.

New Zealand vs South Africa: Head-to-head history

Just like the current points table, SA are a step ahead of NZ when it comes to their head-to-head record in 50-over contests.

Both teams have faced each other in 71ODIs, wherein the Kiwis have won just 25 games and South Africa have come out victorious on 41 occasions.

However, the story is a little different in ODI World Cups.

New Zealand have won six of the eight games against the Proteas whereas the latter has just won on two occasions.

This proves that the Kiwis absorb pressure better than South Africa when it comes to making an impact in major ICC events.

Probable Man-of-the-Match Award Winner

Here are some players you can expect to outshine in the match.

Rachindra

With an average of 81 in the tournament, Ravindra Rachindra has surprised the world with his batting skills. He has already scored two match-changing centuries so far, amassing 406 runs in six outings.

Everyone knew how good of a spinner he was, but no one had a clue that he can combat pace and swing that good if he gets to bat up the order.

The all-rounder is the fifth highest run-getter overall and the highest run-scorer for New Zealand in the world cup, so far.

He has been an amazing find for the NZ camp and his runs at the top are now crucial for them walking into more important stages of the tournament.

De Kock

Quinton de Kock has been in supreme touch playing in his last world cup. With three centuries in the tournament, he has become an ODI royalty for South Africa.

De Kock is the highest run-getter in the tournament with a mammoth 431 runs, just above Australia’s David Warner (413 runs).

The left-handed opener has enjoyed his batting on wickets that are too familiar to him, thanks to his vast experience in the Indian Premier League.

The wicket-keeper batsman has already announced his retirement from ODIs so it seems like he is making sure to give his everything with the bat the final time around.

South Africa have been consistently scoring over 350 runs in almost every other match, and the reason behind their ability to amass big totals is de Kock as he gives them a great start in the beginning.

He doesn’t like to hang around and consume lots of dot balls. De Kock did not make it big in the Pakistan game that SA won in the final over by a wicket, but he set the platform for his team to chase it down with a fiery start to the inning.

He ensured that he didn't let Shaheen Shah Afridi settle in his opening spells and smacked him around before being caught on the square-leg boundary.

In modern-day cricket, every team needs an opener like de Kock who can punish bad balls from the get-go.

Santner

With his flighted deliveries, Mitchell Santner has been making a mayhem in this world cup. The left-arm orthodox has got 14 wickets in just six games. He has been bowling at an economy of 4.9 only.

With his spells in the middle overs, New Zealand have been able to restrict opponents to small totals on a regular basis as Santner provides them the breakthrough during that period.

His ability to drift the ball while flighting it, inviting the batsman to hit it big, has been working quite well for him on slow pitches in India.

South Africa will have to be wary of NZ’s spin attack on Wednesday.

Markram

Markram has been South Africa’s man of crisis. He single-handedly became a resistance to Pakistan’s bowling attack on the night where none of the SA batsmen were prolonging their stay on the wicket.

His 91 helped the Proteas continue their dream run with another win over Babar Azam’s unit.

Overall in the tournament, he is the fifth-highest run-scorer. His 356 runs at an average of almost 60 have made him a dependable player in the South Africa side.

From a young Test player to a destructive top-order batter in limited overs, Aiden Markam has come a long way.

New Zealand vs South Africa Match prediction

Both teams are going quite well in the tournament. Both have beaten top sides so far and have quite a similar journey.

With NZ losing one game more than South Africa, the Proteas showed their unpredictability by losing the game to the Netherlands.

South Africa have never won a world cup and that is mainly because they have a knack for bottling chances in knockout rounds. They seem to lose the battle against pressure and that is why they have been labeled as “chokers” in the cricket circles.

This is why New Zealand have gotten the better of South Africa in the world cups. While the Kiwis have been losing lots of games in bilateral series and other ICC tournaments, they come out on top mostly against the Proteas in world cups.

This happens because NZ handles pressure better.

Hence, the Kiwis are favourites to win the contest on Wednesday and take two more points in the bag.