Catch live online video to watch the thrilling New Zealand vs. South Africa 2015 Cricket World Cup semifinal match from Eden Park in Auckland. And while no one really knows who will win the showdown, one thing is certain. When the one-day international match is complete, one of the two teams will advance to the World Cup final for the first time.
New Zealand has advanced to six previous Cricket World Cup semifinals and lost them all, including the Black Caps’ five-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup semifinal round. This year, they face the squad that eliminated Sri Lanka by nine wickets in a quarterfinal, South Africa — a team that has played in three Cricket World Cup semifinals, losing two and tying with Australia in 1999.
The tie resulted in South Africa being eliminated anyway, on a tiebreaker.
This year’s match gets underway Tuesday afternoon in New Zealand — Monday evening in United States time zones — and will finally break the duck for one of the two teams.
But which one?
Even the New Zealand vs. South Africa head-to-head history provides confusing clues. In World Cup ODI matches, the two nations have met six times, with New Zealand taking four wins, including a 2011 match taken by the Black Caps with a relatively close 49 run margin.
But in the four years since the 2011 Cricket World Cup, they two sides have squared off eight more times — and in those matches, the South Africans hold a distinct advantage, winning six times. In fact, when playing on New Zealand turf, South Africa has lately proven indomitable road warriors, winning five straight ODI matches.
The result of the semifinal match could actually come down to the toss of a coin. At Eden Park, the team batting first has won five of the last seven matches, with one tie. But only twice has the team that bats first scored more than 250 runs in those seven games.
Nonetheless, New Zealand, who have now won all seven of their matches in the 2015 Cricket World Cup — actually facing a serious challenge only once, against Australia — are generally considered the favorites, not only to beat South Africa, but to go on to claim their first Cricket World Cup trophy.
Live online video of the New Zealand vs. South Africa semifinal begins streaming at 9 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Monday, March 23.
For a $39.99 fee, the New Zealand vs. South Africa match and live online video for the other semifinal match and well as the final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup will be streamed by ESPN at this link . Subscribing to the ESPN package also allows the option of viewing matches on a TV using the Roku set-top box, as well as on mobile devices by downloading the ESPN Cricket app.
Check back to this page as the New Zealand vs. South Africa match draws closer for more live online video options.
[Image: Hannah Peters/Getty Images]