Rachin Ravindra peppered the record books with a masterful century to light up the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in broad daylight during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 second semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa. Rachin Ravindra smashed 108 off 101 balls and, in the process, became the only batter to score his first five ODI centuries in an ICC event.
Rachin Ravindra also became the fastest to five centuries in an ICC ODI event, bettering the world record of India’s Shikhar Dhawan. Rachin Ravindra, who smashed three centuries in his ODI World Cup debut in India in 2023, took only 13 innings to score his 5th century in an ICC event, taking two less than former India opener Dhawan.
Rachin Ravindra’s knock was backed up by a superlative century by former captain Kane Williamson. The New Zealand legend hit his 15th ODI century and fourth in an ICC tournament. Rachin Ravindra’s 108 and Williamson’s 102 powered New Zealand to a massive 362/6 after opting to bat first.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : Looking at the dimensions, it’s 75m downtown, to my left is 70m and to my right is 67m. This pitch has been fabulous for run-scoring and boundary-hitting. It’s a lovely day for cricket. It’s a hard and flat surface, there’s a fresh covering of grass so the ball will skid on. Three of the world’s tallest bowlers are playing today so they will get extra bounce. There’s something for them to work with. The bowlers need to get it absolutely spot on as this surface is tailor-made for batting, reckon Bazid Khan and Dale Steyn.
Toss : New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and chose to bat with no change in the Playing XI. South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma bowling first made one change in the Playing XI bringing in himself for Tristan Stubbs.
Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson’s tons propel NZ to 362 in 50 overs
Centuries from Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson, followed by vital cameos from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips powered New Zealand to 362 for 6 against South Africa in the second semifinal of the Champions Trophy. Once the centurions set up a platform with a massive 164-run partnership, New Zealand plundered 110 runs at the death in Lahore to post a commanding total that would fancy defending.
After winning the toss, Santner decided to bat first, in the hope that the breeze would negate the possibility of dew in the evening, and he could put scoreboard pressure on South Africa. He was right on both counts.
New Zealand started streakily when Young edged Ngidi over Jansen at slip, but soon found their touch. Rachin Ravindra led the way with a takedown of Jansen’s short balls. Rachin Ravindra pulled a bumper through square leg and then hit him for three fours in his fourth over, through cover, midwicket and extra cover, leaving Jansen wondering which of the cutter, the full ball or the bouncer was his best option. Ngidi stemmed the tide when he had Young caught at mid-off and New Zealand ended the first powerplay on 56 for 1.
An unchanged New Zealand made a decent start after opting to bat in conditions that have been quite familiar to them in recent times. After a watchful start, Rachin Ravindra started opening up, targeting Marco Jansen in particular. He hit three cracking boundaries in an over from the left-arm pacer to stamp his authority and at the other end, Will Young put away a couple of short deliveries from boundaries as well. However, against the run of play, Lungi Ngidi broke the partnership with a slower delivery that was miscued by Young.
Williamson scored 11 off his first 14 balls before Rabada bowled a stunning maiden over to him that constantly kept him on his toes with changes of pace and length, and Williamson was happy to bide time. Ravindra brought up his half-century off 47 balls in the 18th over, in which he hit Wiaan Mulder for three fours.
South Africa had brought on Maharaj in the 17th and his first four overs were tight – he conceded just 14 runs – before Ravindra decided to take him on. He was not fully in control when he fetched Maharaj from outside off to hit through long-on but then charged and smashed a straight six next ball. That over cost 13 runs, and Maharaj’s next 12, and he was replaced by Ngidi, who almost made an important breakthrough.
Even though South Africa pulled the run rate back for a brief period with Williamson biding his time, it was all one-way traffic once he too got going with a flick against Kagiso Rabada. Rachin Ravindra was in a murderous mood as he took on Wiaan Mulder for three fours in an over. The introduction of Keshav Maharaj did stop the boundaries for a while before both Rachin Ravindra and Williamson smashed him for a six each.
As the duo kept milking the attack, they reached their respective landmarks. It was Rachin Ravindra’s fifth ODI ton with all five coming in ICC tournaments. Williamson at the other end now started to cut loose with a scoop against Rabada standing out amongst the shots he played.
It was Rachin Ravindra’s second century in this Champions Trophy. After missing the tournament opener against Pakistan due to an injury, Rachin Ravindra hit 112 against Bangladesh on his Champions Trophy debut. He was dismissed cheaply for 6 in the last group-stage match against India but came roaring back in the big-semi-final against South Africa.
Rachin Ravindra became the first New Zealand batter to score multiple centuries in the same Champions Trophy. The left-handed opener, who also bowls handy left-arm spin, joined the likes of Chris Gayle, who has the most centuries (3) in a single Champions Trophy (2006) Sourav Ganguly (2000), Saeed Anwar (2000), Herschelle Gibbs (2002), Upul Tharanga (2006), Shane Watson (2009), Shikhar Dhawan (2013) in the list of more than one century in a single edition of the marquee tournament.
Once again, South Africa needed a slower delivery to pick up a wicket as Rachin Ravindra only managed to edge an off-cutter from Rabada to Klaasen to depart for 108. There was no stopping Williamson though as he brought out the scoop once again to bring up his 15th ODI ton – third successive one against South Africa. The hallmark of the innings was the acceleration as the former skipper took only 30 balls for his second fifty.
Williamson, on 56, slashed at the last ball of that over, Ngidi’s sixth, and got a healthy edge but Klaasen, diving one-handed to his right, could not hold on. Ngidi caused problems for Ravindra too and beat him outside off in his next over. He was on 97 and South Africa asked for a caught-behind review in vain. Rachin Ravindra went on to bring up his century off Rabada in the next over, off the 93rd ball he faced. New Zealand also brought up their 200 in that over, the 32nd, as Rabada went for 17 with Williamson changing gears.
However, he couldn’t carry forward at the death though as his third attempted scoop saw him mistime the shot, and get caught off a fuller delivery. A similar shot brought the downfall of Tom Latham as well as the keeper-batter missed a delivery bowled at a good length to get castled by Rabada. With both the centurions and Latham back in the pavilion, New Zealand needed Mitchell to carry over the hitting duties.
He was on 80 off 77 balls when Rachin Ravindra was caught behind off Rabada, and took another 14 deliveries to get to his hundred with a ramp off Mulder. The same shot didn’t work later in the over, and Williamson was caught at short fine, but New Zealand had the platform to go big. They were 252 for 3 after 40 overs before Jansen and Rabada squeezed, bowling four overs for 27 runs and the wicket of Tom Latham.
After initially struggling to find the boundary, Mitchell finally ticked that box in the 27th delivery. That helped him kick on as another boundary off Jansen followed before he took Ngidi apart for 6,4,6. Phillips then joined the fun by smashing four successive boundaries off Jansen. Phillips continued to make merry after Mitchell’s departure to guide his team past the 360-run mark as New Zealand hammered an impressive 83 runs from the final six overs.
But then… carnage. Mitchell tonked Ngidi for a six and two fours, Phillips took four successive fours off Jansen’s penultimate over, and New Zealand were on their way. They scored 83 runs in the last six overs to cross 360 and leave South Africa with a mountain to climb.
David Miller’s fastest century in Champions Trophy history in vain as skipper Mitchell Santner’s 3-fer helps NZ book the final date against India
South Africa were under the pump in the chase right from the outset. Matt Henry posed some questions and Kyle Jamieson began by bowling a maiden. The jittery start resulted in Ryan Rickelton falling early as he mistimed an off cutter from Henry to hit it straight to cover. Rassie van der Dussen started off with a boundary first ball and Temba Bavuma, who was batting on 3 off 18 at one stage, finally broke the shackles with a lovely on drive that reached the boundary.
Despite scoring only 36 from the first eight overs, South Africa redeemed themselves in that first PowerPlay with both Bavuma and van der Dussen collecting a few boundaries. While William O’Rourke was targeted, the South Africans just couldn’t put the spinners away. First, it was Michael Bracewell who kept bowling one tidy over after another. And when he was joined by Mitchell Santner, things got even harder for the batting side.
And at least one of them started the ascent slowly. When Ryan Rickelton was out for 17 off 11, Bavuma was batting on 3 off 17. He continued to labour, and moved to 10 off 24 before cutting loose. In the ninth over, he walked down the pitch to Matt Henry and hit over mid-off, and in the 10th, hooked Kyle Jamieson behind square for six.
South Africa rescued the first powerplay and finished it on 56 for 1, exactly the same as New Zealand. With the in-form van der Dussen with him, Bavuma demonstrated an ability to kick on and the pair formed a dangerous combination.
Despite the good start by the spin duo, South Africa were still in the game when both the set batters brought up their respective half-centuries. But the chase fizzled out when Santner removed both the batters in a matter of a few overs. Slowing down the pace considerably, Santner managed to eke out some turn from this surface to account for Bavuma’s dismissal before managing to breach van der Dussen’s defence.
They took on the spinners, with both batters bringing up their fifties in successive Michael Bracewell overs, and their stand grew to 105 before Bavuma became Santner’s first victim. He tried to hit his counterpart over cover, but was undone by flight and miscued the ball to Kane Williamson at backward point. Still, South Africa were on track. New Zealand had been 143 for 1 at the halfway stage; South Africa were 143 for 2.
At that point, South Africa literally needed something special from Heinrich Klaasen to pull off a spectacular win. However, the New Zealand skipper stood tall for his side yet again and came out on top of a much anticipated one-on-one clash against the maverick South African keeper-batter, who mistimed one straight to long on. From thereon, it was one-way traffic as Bracewell then rounded off his spell with a wicket before the likes of Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips joined the party as well by combining for three more dismissals.
But Santner was to have the decisive say. He bowled van der Dussen with a quicker one that straightened past his edge as he looked to work into the leg side, and then had Klaasen caught by Henry diving forward at long-on. Henry tumbled onto his right shoulder and left the field in some discomfort, which forced New Zealand to turn to Ravindra as a sixth bowler. It worked a charm when Aiden Markram popped a catch back to him that he took in front of his face.
Any amount of substantial interest still left in the contest, which was dead and buried by then, was down to Miller potentially lighting up the skies with a few big ones. With just the tail to bat with, Miller stunned the opposition and the small crowd that was still present out there despite knowing the outcome.
Batting on 47 off 43 by the end of the 46th over, Miller farmed the strike for the major part of the next 24 deliveries and took on Jamieson and O’Rourke for a flurry of boundaries. Needing 18 from the final six deliveries for a spectacular century, the South African finisher got the job done when he needed 2 from the final ball. His heroics significantly reduced the loss margin which at one stage looked like it would be beyond 100.
South Africa needed 170 runs from the last 15 overs with five wickets in hand, and ESPNCricinfo’s win predictor gave them less than 0.5% chance of winning. Even with Miller still at the crease, that seemed accurate. Miller batted to the end and brought up his seventh ODI century off the last ball of the match.
His cradle celebration appeared to dedicate the knock to his one-month-old son Benji, but much like his century in the ODI World Cup semi-final in 2023, it might have left him feeling “a bit hollow.” South Africa may share that sentiment with another opportunity at a trophy gone, but for New Zealand, who last lifted an ICC ODI trophy in the year 2000, the dream is alive.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Mitchell Santner the winning skipper of NZ said : It’s a pretty good feeling, today we were challenged by a good side, we will head to Dubai where we already faced India earlier. We will rest and will go again. It was holding a bit in the first innings but Rachin and Williamson set the stage and the guys finishing it put the icing on the cake. We took wickets in the middle overs and made it tough for the opposition.
What we speak as a group is to apply pressure and take wickets in the middle. Michael Bracewell bowled really well in the last game to take a 4-fer. It was really pleasing for me to take three scalps today. It makes my job easier, we have four all-rounders who can bowl spin and they can bat as well. Rachin’s five overs were great, have to wait and see how Matt Henry’s shoulder is. It’s a bit sore, we have to wait for a couple of days and see.
(On Williamson) He keeps doing it, that partnership was massive for us, he was able to keep going in the middle phase, South Africa challenged us but we were able to cash in and score 360. We felt 320 might not be enough. (On their loss against India in Dubai) Being there and being put under pressure was good. I think the bowlers bowled well to chip wickets at the top. I think winning the toss will be nice as well.
Temba Bavuma the loosing skipper of SA said : (On the target) I do think it was above-par. Probably if it was 350, we would have backed ourselves to chase the score. We had one or two partnerships today but we needed me or Rassie to go on and emulate what two of their batters did.
They really put us under pressure from the word go, the way they were able to pierce the off-side at the start and the way they played in the middle overs. Kudos to them, credit to their batters, Rachin and Williamson and even the batters who came in, Mitchell and Phillips. We were 125/1 and me and Rassie were still batting. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to set that foundation for them.
A bit of a soft dismissal for me and a better dismissal for Rassie and we left too much for them in the end. Like I said in the beginning, like I mentioned that we were 125/1, we had to be more decisive, not give an opportunity for the opposition to come back and being ruthless. We needed to take care of the key moments in the game.
Rachin Ravindra Player of the Match for his brilliant 108 runs said : It’s always great to contribute to the team, an emphatic victory at the semi-final stage and it’s very pleasing. I didn’t start as well as I wanted, Marco (Jansen) and Lungi (Ngidi) bowled well, once I got going, partnerships with Young and Kane, it started working for me, partnerships with those two, going with the ebbs and flows of the game, the two helped me get going.
We were thinking about 300, then Kane started accelerating, then GP, Daryl Mitchell, and the rest kicked on to take us past 350. It’s important to think about what next, but it’s all about celebrating the win today, Kane with another classy hundred. Once we go to Dubai, we’ll switch back and think about the final.
A clinical performance with both bat and ball saw New Zealand beat South Africa in the second semifinal in Lahore to reach the Champions Trophy 2025 final. Centuries from Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson saw New Zealand post an imposing 362 on the board. Their spinners then delivered in unison to seal the deal in New Zealand’s favour but the margin of victory was significantly brought down to just 50 runs right at the end after David Miller went berserk for an unbeaten 67-ball ton – the fastest in Champions Trophy history.
New Zealand are into their seventh ICC final and fourth in the ODI format after posting the highest score in Champions Trophy history and beating South Africa by 50 runs in their semi-final in Lahore. They will play India in Sunday’s final in Dubai on the back of a major confidence boost following their commanding win.
Rachin Ravindra scored his fifth ODI hundred – all of them have come in ICC events – Kane Williamson racked up a third successive century against South Africa, and Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Philips late cameos propelled NZ to highest Champions Trophy score 362. Mitchell Santner took 3 for 43, his wickets including those of South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma, their consistent No. 3 Rassie van der Dussen and their most destructive hitter Heinrich Klaasen, as New Zealand defended their score with aplomb and progressed to the final.
Mitchell Santner took 3 for 43, his wickets including those of South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma, their consistent No. 3 Rassie van der Dussen and their most destructive hitter Heinrich Klaasen, as New Zealand defended their score with aplomb and progressed to the final.
The match was long over as a contest by the 47th over of South Africa’s chase, when David Miller was batting on 52 with only No. 11 Lungi Ngidi for company. But just enough time remained for Miller to farm the strike, face all 18 balls that remained, and reach a 67-ball century off the last ball of the match.
This is the fifth semi-final that New Zealand have won at an ICC ODI event while South Africa have lost nine out of 11 (and only won one), and their search for a second major title after the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998 goes on.
Much of the focus may be on South Africa’s batting given that they have not won any of the five semi-finals they have chased in, but this time they lost the game in the field. Their bowling effort was unusually off-colour as they failed to take advantage of early swing, bowled too many pace-on deliveries despite seeing the efficacy of pace-off, and they put down two catches.
Lungi Ngidi was their best bowler with his steady selection of slower balls and picked up the early wicket of Will Young with the new ball and the important one of Mitchell with the older one, but both Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj went wicketless.
Put simply, South Africa were no match for the combination of Rachin Ravindra and Williamson, the courageous and the calm, who shared in New Zealand’s highest Champions Trophy stand of 164 for the second wicket and complemented each other perfectly.
Both may say they didn’t play their most fluent innings but they approached a flat pitch differently, especially in terms of the pace of their scoring, and kept South Africa guessing. Rachin Ravindra maintained a strike rate of more than 100 throughout his innings to keep pressure on the bowlers while Williamson took his time to get to his half-century (61 balls) before taking just 30 more deliveries to bring up his century.
A clinical show from New Zealand today as they march into the finals of CT, 2025 with their confidence sky-high. A team that is known to operate under the radar has once again thrived in a knockout encounter. South Africa, on the other hand, have lost yet another semi-final in an ICC event. South Africa’s association with knockout games in ICC events has given them a lot of bitter memories and today has been no different.
The Kiwis won an important toss on a flat surface and their batters responded impressively to the decision. Centuries from Rachin Ravindra and Williamson gave NZ a momentum boost and that is what is needed in crunch games. The South African bowlers had an off day and the opposition capitalized. Cameos from Mitchell and Phillips at the death were icing on the cake for NZ. 363 was always going to a steep ask for the Proteas.
After losing Rickelton quite early, Bavuma and Rassie steadied the ship somewhat but the former scored at a slow rate. The pressure kept mounting on SA and once their skipper departed, things opened up and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Santner extracted good purchase off the surface and broke the back of the run-chase with a 3-fer.
Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra and Phillips also got the ball to grip and took the game away from the opposition by taking further wickets. Miller played an outstanding knock and struck a century but the game was already done and dusted.
South Africa’s record in ICC semi-finals has worsened after today’s defeat. (9 losses and only one win). Their bowlers didn’t really rise to the occasion. The fact that they lacked in the spin department apart from Maharaj had a big say on their insipid bowling performance. Miller sparkled with a century but he needed much more support from the others. When it comes to the Kiwis, they always punch above their weight especially in marquee tournaments.
Their batters stood tall and their spinners were on the money. Their death bowling came under the hammer tonight when Miller was going strong and that is one area they need to work upon.
So, that sets up the big finale between India and New Zealand in Dubai. The Men in Blue have been susceptible in the past against the Kiwis in knockout games in ICC events and that provides an opportunity for them to capitalise. But, the way India are playing at the moment and with them having acclimatised with the conditions in Dubai, it can be said that they are the slight favourites.