New Zealand Will Lean On Tri-Series Win To Beat South Africa In Champions Trophy Semifinal

Senior batter Tom Latham said New Zealand will take confidence from their recent win over South Africa in the tri-series when they face the same opponents in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy in Lahore on Wednesday. New Zealand lost to India by 44 runs in their final Group A match here on Sunday but Latham said it would have no bearing on the semifinal. Recently, New Zealand successfully chased 305 against South Africa in Lahore and then went on to win the tri-series, beating Pakistan in the final, and Latham feels those experiences will hold them in good stead on Wednesday.

"Yeah, the (South Africa) team that we played potentially will be slightly different, they had a lot of guys that that weren't in that side. They were still playing in their SAT20 back in South Africa so will be slightly different.

"But I guess from our point of view, we'll lean back on those experiences of Lahore in playing against South Africa," Latham said after the loss to India.

"So yeah, we'll look to prep as best we can. We'll do everything that we do leading up to a game. It's obviously going to be a reasonably quick turnaround, but it is what it is. And, we'll be looking forward to the challenge of a semifinal." Latham said what matters for the Kiwis is their attitude towards the game and preparation.

"...as we go into every game, we prepare as best we can. Individuals have slightly different preparation. And, yeah, we obviously fielded fantastically well today (Sunday), which was fantastic. And I think that's something we like to do.

"Especially from a fielding point of view is to I guess have a presence in the field and keep taking every I guess attacking option that we can and I think we've seen throughout the tournament some of the