Follow UsIt will be New Zealand vs South Africa in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, and the Kiwi head coach is upbeat about his team’s chances as they are playing at a venue where they feel lucky.
"We are lucky. We've had some experience playing here in the tri-series before the tournament actually kicked off," Gary Stead was quoted as saying on March 4 (Tuesday) by Reuters ahead of the game on March 5.
There is a lot of difference between South Africa, who were beaten by New Zealand in the Tri-Series, and the one that topped their group in the tournament. Stead was fully aware of that but still backed his positive experience of the ground in Pakistan.
"They're a very, very good side, and we're going to have to play right near our best to beat them. We've got some on-ground experience and I guess some positive emotions to fall back on the way we played here as well,” said the man, who is also a selector in the Kiwi senior men’s cricket set-up.
Talking about the pitch behaviour in Lahore, Stead said, "We haven't been down to the ground yet to see if we're on a used wicket or not, but generally, these wickets are pretty good batting surfaces.”
"They don't bounce too much,” he added.
New Zealand have not lost a single game in Pakistan, winning two matches in Lahore and Karachi each and one in Rawalpindi across the Tri-series involving the hosts and South Africa alongside themselves, as well as the Champions Trophy.
Their only loss in the tournament came against India in Dubai, in a match where they looked like winning it for nearly 70 overs.