South Africa captain Aiden Markram has called on his side to keep their approach simple and focused as they prepare to face the New Zealand national cricket team in the semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 on Wednesday.

The Proteas head into the knockout clash in formidable form, having won all seven of their matches in the tournament so far.

Runners-up in the previous edition, South Africa have claimed 15 victories in their last 16 T20 World Cup matches, strengthening their status as one of the favourites for the title.

However, Markram dismissed talk of favouritism ahead of the last-four encounter.

“With regards to being favourites or not, that’s all different people’s opinions,” he said on the eve of the match.

“For us as a team, we really just try to focus on putting good games of cricket together and playing that exciting brand that we’ve been trying to play over the last 18 months.”

He added that the team would not deviate from the formula that has brought them success so far.

“We are not trying to do anything different tomorrow. Keep hammering away at the things that we have done well and that have got us here.”

South Africa secured a seven-wicket win over New Zealand during the group stage in Ahmedabad, but Markram cautioned against reading too much into that result.

“I wish cricket were that easy. New Zealand are a quality team. They’ve proved that over many years now. It’s a completely fresh start tomorrow,” he said, describing the semi-final as an exciting opportunity for his side.

The match will be played at Eden Gardens, where South Africa have not featured in a T20 International before.

The Proteas played five of their seven matches at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad earlier in the tournament.

Despite the change in venue, Markram expressed confidence in his team’s ability to adapt to conditions.

“We have got a lot of good experience in the group. Quinny reads conditions really well from behind the stumps, and that makes a massive difference for us,” he said, referring to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.

South Africa will be aiming to make a winning debut at Eden Gardens in the shortest format as they seek a place in the T20 World Cup final.