South Africa had a very poor start in the first semi-final match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The South African team, which came to bat first after losing the toss at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata, lost its 2 wickets for just 12 runs. Off-spinner Cole McConchie gave both these blows to the Proteas team. McConchie, who was put into attack in the second over for Quinton de Kock, did not disappoint Kiwi captain Mitchell Santner and got success on the fourth ball itself.
De Kock came forward to put pressure on McConchie and hit a four in front, but on the very next ball, in an attempt to play a big shot, he gave an easy catch at mid-on. De Kock scored 10 runs in 8 balls. McConchie then got the wicket of new batsman Ryan Rickleton as a gift. Rickleton attempted to cut the short ball outside the off stump, which sliced and went straight into the hands of the short third fielder. Rickleton was out for a golden duck and in no time South Africa’s score was 12/2.
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Who is McConchie?
McConchie, 34, plays for Centerbury in New Zealand domestic cricket. Apart from bowling off-spin, he is also known for making useful contributions with the bat in the lower order. He was not selected in New Zealand’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. He was called to India after injured Michael Bracewell was ruled out of this tournament. McConchie joined the Kiwis as a traveling reserve and was later included in the main squad.
Before doing wonders in the semi-finals, McConchie had helped New Zealand sail through by playing an unbeaten 31-run innings at number eight in the Super-8 match against Sri Lanka. He along with captain Santner made an unbeaten 84-run partnership in 47 balls for the seventh wicket and took the Kiwi team from the score of 84/6 to the score of 168/7. After this, New Zealand registered a big win by 61 runs by restricting Sri Lanka to the score of 107/8, due to which it was successful in reaching the semi-finals.
McConchie made his debut in international cricket in 2021. He has played 16 T20 International matches so far, in which he has taken 9 wickets in his name. Apart from this, he has also scored 145 runs. McConchie has taken 4 wickets and scored 126 runs in 6 ODI matches.
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Playing XI of both the teams:
New Zealand – Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson
South Africa – Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickleton, Dewald Brewis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Yanson, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
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