KOLKATA: South African coach Shukri Conrad on Wednesday made no excuses and called his team’s nine-wicket defeat by New Zealand in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup a “walloping”.

South Africa, the 2024 runners-up, were unbeaten going into the knockout match in Kolkata but were blown away after New Zealand chased down their target of 170 with 7.1 overs to spare.

New Zealand opener Finn Allen hit the fastest-ever T20 World Cup century in 33 balls to send his team through to the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Often called “chokers” for failing in the knockouts of top global competitions, South Africa once again faltered on the big stage.

“I don’t know if tonight was a choke, I thought it was a bloody walloping,” Conrad told reporters.

“If you want to be choked, you might as well have had a snook in the game.

“Tonight we got a proper snotklap, a South African word meaning a real hiding.”

He added: “I’m so proud of all these guys. I don’t think many people gave us much of a chance of even getting to a semi-final when we left the shores.

“But that’s no consolation for anything like that.”

New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first and their bowlers rattled South Africa, who slumped to 77-5 before reaching 169-8.

The bowling came under attack from Allen and Tim Seifert, who hit 58, as the pair put on 117 runs for the opening wicket to run away with the chase.

Allen finished the game with two fours, two sixes and a four off successive balls to hit the winning runs and reach his hundred with a roar of delight at the Eden Gardens.

“We chose a really crappy time to have a bad night,” said Conrad.

“There’s obviously a lot to be said about playing all those games (in Ahmedabad) and not having played anything in some of the other states. But again, that’s no excuse.” South Africa played five of their seven matches in Ahmedabad, including two statement wins over holders India and the West Indies in the Super Eights stage.

In the semi-final, South Africa were left playing catch up after they lost half their side in 10.2 overs and despite Marco Jansen’s unbeaten 55 ended well short on a wicket where India chased down 196 against the West Indies on Sunday.

“They strangled us up front, lost wickets, didn’t get any sort of momentum going,” said Conrad. “Not a

lot of it went right tonight but that was probably enforced because they were so good and they never gave us a sniff.”

‘South Africa won’t dwell on cup exit”

Given their form going into the semi-final, South Africa expected to compete better against New Zealand but are philosophical about their defeat in a format where momentum can swing quickly.

It marked yet another World Cup failure for the South Africans, but captain Aiden Markram said there was no other option but to look ahead to the next tournament.

“We’ll reflect as a group,” Markram said. “But I am very proud of these guys. They played some really good cricket throughout this competition and it was just an unfortunate evening, really.

“The halfway point, we really felt like we had a sniff. But then, as it goes in T20 cricket, their powerplay got off to a flyer, and you can’t protect every boundary. They got away, and then from there it was really hard to pull it back.

“All you do is you break down the game and try to find the areas that could have been better. And you get back on the horse and you try and improve as a group and as individuals. And hopefully that puts you in good stead for the future.”

South Africa’s next assignment is a five-match T20 series in New Zealand starting on March 15, though only three of the World Cup squad, spinners Keshav Maharaj and George Linde, and all-rounder Jason Smith, will take part.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2026

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Organisers of the Milan-Cortina Paralympics confirmed on Thursday that seven countries will boycott the opening ceremony in protest at Russian athletes being allowed to compete under their own flag for the first time since 2014.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said last month it would allow six Russians and four athletes from Belarus to take part in the Games under their national flags rather than as neutral competitors.

Russia and Belarus were ban­ned from the 2022 Paralympics following the invasion of Ukraine, although they were permitted to compete as neutral athletes in the Paris Summer Paralympics two years later.

Following the IPC’s announcement, several countries, including Ukraine, said they would boycott Friday’s opening ceremony in Verona as a result.

“You will have seen also in the last 10 days news of some National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) who have decided not to come for political reasons and there’s been various numbers (reported),” IPC communications officer Craig Spence told a press conference in Cortina on Thursday.

“I’ve seen numbers ranging from seven to 15. So let me be very clear on the NPCs who are not coming for political reasons.

“We have Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.”

Spence added the IPC “respect that decision” to boycott the ceremony.

With the curtain-raiser taking place far away from the competition sites of Cortina, Val di Fiemme and Milan, the IPC indicated that other countries would not have athletes present at the ceremony but insisted that was due to their decision to “prioritise athletic performance”.

“Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, they’re not boycotting the ceremony,” Spence explained. “They’ve told us that they are not coming for performance reasons.”

With several events, including alpine skiing, starting on Saturday from 0830 GMT, many athletes have elected to stay close to their bases.

Spence added that many countries informed the IPC last year that they would be unable to attend the ceremony at the historic Verona Arena.

“In November we were informed by several nations that they wouldn’t be able to come to the ceremony because they wanted to prioritise athletic performance and the IPC completely respects that,” he said.

“At the end of the day athletes have been training for this moment for many years and if they’re prioritising performance then we’re happy with that.”

The IPC said many nations have sent 12-second videos of their athletes, which will be “dropped into the opening ceremony”.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2026

Bangladesh on Thursday recalled Litton Das and Afif Hossain to their 15-member squad for the three-match one-day international (ODI) series against Pakistan starting next week.

Pacers Nahid Rana and Shoriful Islam also returned as the selection panel, led by Gazi Ashraf Hossain, made several changes to the squad that last played an ODI series against the West Indies in October.

Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Nasum Ahmed were dropped, while Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Hasan Mahmud were ruled out through injury.

Litton last played an ODI in July against Sri Lanka before missing the series against Afghanistan in the UAE and the West Indies at home.

“There may be questions about Litton Das’s recent ODI form, but he has been working closely with the coaches on his game,” Ashraf Hossain said.

“We… are considering him as an option to strengthen the middle order.” Afif has not played international cricket since December 2024, when he featured in ODIs and T20Is against the West Indies.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz will captain the side, with leg-spinner Rishad Hossain and left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam providing spin options.

All three matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on the outskirts of Dhaka on March 11, 13 and 15.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board said the Pakistan squad would arrive in Dhaka on March 8, dismissing media reports suggesting the tour had been called off due to the war in the Middle East.

Bangladesh Squad: Mehidy Hasan Miraz (captain), Soumya Sarkar, Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Litton Das, Afif Hossain, Mahidul Islam, Rishad Hossain, Tanvir Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana.