And just like that, with one bad evening, South Africa's World Cup campaign came crumbling down. It is a horror movie they have been unfortunate protagonists of many times before - a stumble just when the stakes reach the skies. But to reduce the narrative of this defeat to another 'choke' would be unfair on New Zealand. It strips away the credit for a calm, methodical takedown of an opposition they had lost to recently. Mitchell Santner and his men deserve their flowers.

On the eve of this match, New Zealand arrived as the humble underdogs, a tag that seems to follow them everywhere. This time it came because South Africa were on a roll and had already humbled them in the group stage in Ahmedabad. Santner openly addressed the biggest pain point from that experience - their Powerplay bowling. That day he had unleashed six overs of pace at the top three of Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton, who slammed their way to 83/1.

From the same chair that Santner sat on and dissected that game, Gautam Gambhir said three days ago that he did not believe in data. It was a curious statement to make in 2026, but he said it nonetheless, claiming to rely wholly on instinct. To each his own perhaps, but Santner showed how leaning on even the most basic data from this tournament was enough to rattle South Africa's cage early.

When Quinton de Kock took strike in the second over, he faced the off-spinner Cole McConchie. In an interesting twist of T20 fate, off-spinners have found happiness in this otherwise cruel format again in the World Cup. South Africa themselves have taken a sip from this pool, with Markram opening the bowling and causing havoc. McConchie was there to prey on De Kock's off-spin bugbear, and it took just three deliveries. He stayed away from De Kock's hitting arc and found success with a shorter length ball which the batter hit to mid-on. For the fourth time in 44 deliveries in this tournament, the South African opener had been undone by an off-spinner.

One left-hander went out and another arrived in Ryan Rickelton, who also got a similar length delivery, further away from him. But Rickelton cut it straight to backward point. Any thoughts of an early batting flourish were cut down to size by the offie, leaving South Africa at 12 for 2. They limped to the end of the Powerplay with 48/2, and had played out an unprecedented 20 dot balls in this period.

But South Africa's batting has had more depth than just a big Powerplay setup. Middle-overs have been where they've consolidated like no other team in the tournament - scoring at 9.65 an over. Early wickets meant hitting those high notes might not be as easy, but there was still room to catch-up. But a proactive Santner only pushed them further back. At Markram and Dewald Brevis - two right-handers, he threw left-arm spin from both ends.

Rachin Ravindra has not made the runs that New Zealand would've wanted from their No.3 batter, but he coolly walked off on Wednesday evening having bagged nine wickets in the last three games. By the time Ravindra came to bowl, Markram was meandering away at a run-a-ball pace. He took the spinner on and found Daryl Mitchell at long-on. He too has had his scoring rate struggles against spinners, and Santner duly cashed in.

In his next over, Ravindra toyed with the batters with speed and length variations. Brevis got a teasing tossed up ball, that he tonked for a one-handed six over cow corner, without fully being in control. For the next two deliveries, Ravindra went shorter and quicker to keep the shots in check. When the strike turned over, he gave Miller the flight too, and went well outside the off-stump, which the left-hander hit straight to Mitchell at long-off.

An over later, Brevis fell to the most innocuous full ball from James Neesham, hitting it tamely to cover. It reduced South Africa to 77/5 in the 11th over, robbing them of any momentum built along the way. Marco Jansen did all the patchwork at the death, but through the middle phase too New Zealand had tightened the leash by conceding just 63 at seven-an-over.

It's odd to term any ploy old-fashioned in this format, but perhaps New Zealand's simple route through a few match-ups can be called that. McConchie bowled just one over for his two wickets because he wasn't needed again. Santner and Ravindra combined to bowl eight overs of left-arm spin for only 54 runs. Finn Allen then stomped on an already wounded opposition with a mind-boggling century, but New Zealand's victory was built on the precursor to that batting effort.

Not very long ago, the New Zealand players were cooped up in their Colombo hotel, nervously gnawing at their nails as Pakistan and Sri Lanka played a game that held their fate in the tournament. But, Santner and his men now know what a difference four days and watertight planning can make.

By Thursday evening they will be in their hotel in Ahmedabad, once again huddled together to watch India take on England in the second semifinal. Only this time it will not matter to them which way the wind blows.