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News India Live, Digital Desk: South Africa has been a team in the cricket world which plays like a lion in the league stage, but collapses as soon as the knockouts arrive. If we look at the statistics, the team has faced defeat 12 times out of 14 ICC semi-finals played so far (including ODI and T20 World Cup).1. South Africa’s semi-final record (The Statistical Nightmare) South Africa’s success percentage in the semi-finals is only around 14%, which is very low for any big team.2. South Africa’s most painful ‘Choke’ (Heartbreaking Moments) 1999 World Cup (vs Australia): The famous match which was a tie, but Australia reached the final on the basis of previous record. Fans still remember that run-out mistake of Lance Klusener and Allan Donald. 2015 World Cup (vs New Zealand): Grant Elliot’s six broke South Africa’s dream of reaching the final for the first time. The world saw the tears of AB de Villiers after the match. 2023 World Cup (vs Australia): Despite a brilliant start, the team’s batting disintegrated in the semi-finals and Australia won. 3. New Zealand: The ‘real juggler’ of the semi-finals (The NZ Edge) New Zealand’s team is the complete opposite of South Africa. The Kiwis have been the most ‘consistent’ in ICC knockouts over the years: Luck on the side: New Zealand have played in 4 finals of the last 5 white-ball World Cups. Mental Game: Kiwi players are known for staying calm in pressure matches, while South Africa make mistakes under pressure.4. Will history change in 2026? (The Road to Final) The positive thing for South Africa is that they ended their final drought by defeating Afghanistan in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2024. Opportunity for revenge: There cannot be a better opportunity for South Africa to avenge the defeat in the 2015 ODI World Cup semi-finals. Form: Experienced players like Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada are in great form at the moment.