Spin gives South Africa the edge

Apart from the one blip against England, South Africa have been exceptional and are the form team of the tournament. They notched up comfortable wins over West Indies and Bangladesh, and triumphed in a close game against India. While there have been occasions where they have shown signs of collapsing, they have generally been able to handle tight situations fairly well. The real challenge for South Africa, though, starts from the knockout stage. They last made a final of a global tournament in the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998 which they won. In the five previous World Cups, they have been eliminated three times in the semi-finals and once in the quarter-finals. In sharp contrast, New Zealand have always performed above expectations in global tournaments. While their only win came in the Champions Trophy in 2000, they have reached the semi-final of the World Cup in 1999 and 2007.

The two teams haven't met too often in recent times. South Africa got the better of New Zealand in the Champions Trophy in 2009, but were surprised by New Zealand in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups. New Zealand hold a slight edge in their clashes in major tournaments. However, South Africa hold a minor advantage in recent clashes and in the matches played in Asia.

New Zealand looked set to finish in the top two of the group after their resounding win over Pakistan but after a huge defeat against Sri Lanka, they ended up finishing fourth in the group. South Africa, on the other hand, have been an extremely dominant side in the group stages with only the close defeat to England going against them.

New Zealand have scored faster in the Powerplay overs but have also lost more wickets when compared to South Africa. While New Zealand's bowling has been more economical in the mandatory and bowling Powerplays, it has suffered in the batting Powerplay. South Africa have been superb in the batting Powerplay, conceding less than five runs per over.

The batting performance of the teams against fast bowlers and spinners also throws up some interesting numbers. New Zealand have scored at a higher run rate against pace and also score a greater percentage of runs in boundaries. However, South Africa have played a much lower dot-ball percentage. Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla have forged a dangerous opening partnership, and with the experienced Jacques Kallis and the in-form AB de Villiers following them, South Africa have a distinct advantage. New Zealand have struggled against spin, especially in the game against Sri Lanka when they went down by 112 runs. Surprisingly, South Africa have attacked with spin in this World Cup and will look to do more of the same against a New Zealand batting line-up which has proved to be vulnerable.

Robin Peterson and Imran Tahir have been a revelation in the World Cup. Peterson, especially, bowled superbly against England and Bangladesh, while Tahir has provided South Africa with an attacking option in the middle overs. New Zealand don't have as many attacking bowling options, but the return of the economical Daniel Vettori will boost New Zealand's confidence.