T20 World Cup 2026: ‘If you lose the powerplay, you more often than not lose the game’ – Ex-South Africa captain dissects semi-final loss

Former South African captain Faf du Plessis has stressed that in a T20 match, losing the powerplay often means losing the game, and that is exactly what happened to the South African team in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final against the New Zealand national cricket team on March 4.

The Proteas lost two wickets in the first two overs, forcing them to adjust their game plan just to reach a competitive total. However, the Black Caps chased it down comfortably in just 12.5 overs, powered by an unbeaten 100 off 33 balls from Finn Allen.

“For me, the important thing with the tempo of a chase or setting the score is what happens in the first two overs. If you saw what happened in tonight’s game… South Africa lost two wickets, it’s easy then to say we have to get 60 in the powerplay because at the back of your mind you are thinking we need to get a little bit more here because you are batting first,” said Du Plessis as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“The same principle was applied with the West Indies the other night [against India]. We all said that if West Indies are to win this game, they need to get a big score batting first because their bowling is not as strong. We were sitting here and thinking that 220 needed to stay in the contest. South Africa does have a better bowling unit, we understand that, but the thing is when you lose two wickets in the first two overs, there has to be a period of, ‘okay, we just need to get through this and then to go again’,” he added.

Du Plessis felt that South Africa could have been smarter with their approach in the powerplay. After losing two early wickets, Aiden Markram and Dewald Brevis adopted a rather cautious approach in an attempt to rebuild the innings. However, the strategy did not pay off. Instead of stabilising, South Africa lost three wickets in quick succession within the space of three overs.

“If you lose the powerplay, you more often than not lose the game. If you go four down, you are out of it and South Africa were three [two] down for not many. If you break down the innings, you can see it is almost a game within a game. The first six overs were going to be challenging. You are seen out there as, ‘okay, right now the game-play seems like almost the previous game, it is a touch on the slower side, so how do we make sure we give ourselves weapons to have after six overs to really [go big] when it’s supposed to get easier’. Tonight, after ten overs, the wicket got easier,” said Du Plessis.

Du Plessis also emphasised that once a team loses the first powerplay, as was the case with South Africa, they must quickly recalibrate their approach. He explained that after a brief period of consolidation to steady the innings, the batting side needs to shift gears and attack with intent, aiming to get back to the target score they had originally planned for at the start of the innings.

“Normally in a powerplay you have to go hard. So there, tonight, was even tougher than the other night when India was bowling. Now the assessment out there is, ‘ok perhaps it is not 50 after six, it is 35 after six. But wickets in hand is where we cash in later,” said Du Plessis.

“And then in that, you have to go ultra hard and play catch-up. Let’s say you are 40 after six and are one or two down, [you] then start building and after ten is when you really go and put your foot down. Now we have got the foundation, so we are looking to go 220. We are still looking to get 220 but the method is different,” he added.