South Africa won all of the matches they could afford to lose in this tournament before losing the first one they needed to win.
New Zealand annihilated them in the first semi-final, winning by nine wickets. Finn Allen smashed through South Africa's famed fast bowling attack, scoring an unbroken century off just 33 balls. It was the fastest century in the competition's history, and Allen called it the innings of his life. Only two hitters have ever scored a faster century in international T20 cricket.
South Africa's skipper, Aiden Markram, criticized the changing conditions for throwing off his squad. "We'll reflect as a group," he stated."First and foremost, we'll let our emotions to settle, and then we'll get back on the horse and try to improve. But we are certainly quite dissatisfied with the outcome; it seems like we have been slapped in the face."
There were long odds that New Zealand would undertake any of this. South Africa had won all seven games in the tournament, including a seven-wicket win with 17 balls to spare over the Black Caps in the group stages. But the odds began to fall as soon as Mitchell Santner, New Zealand's captain, won the toss.Of course, Santner elected to bowl first, as do two of the three sides in T20 games at Eden Gardens, forcing the South African attack to field in the dew.

The New Zealanders weren't ideal. They made a pair of fielding errors, one when Rachin Ravindra lost a straightforward chance off Markram at midwicket and another when Glenn Phillips dropped a harder one off David Miller in the deep. And their reliance on Jimmy Neesham's medium pace to make up overs backfired as he allowed 42 off three overs. However, South Africa lacked the necessary aggression and assertiveness to make them pay. They finished with a mediocre score of 169.New Zealand, on the other hand, became increasingly confident as the game progressed. The way their openers, Tim Seifert and Allen, attacked the feared South African fast bowling attack was amazing to see. Seifert and Allen scored 84 runs off the power play by scooping, pulling, cutting, and crashing. By the time Kagiso Rabada eventually claimed his team's first wicket, eliminating Seifert, New Zealand had 117 off 9.1 overs and the game was effectively over.
South Africa's batting had struggled to match it. Cole McConchie, a New Zealand off-spinner, dismissed both Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton in the second over of the encounter, his only one.South Africa was 48 for two following the powerplay when Santner introduced himself and Ravindra into the attack, and the game changed direction. First Markram and then Miller were trapped in the deep while attempting to hit Ravindra on the ground.
South Africa were 77 for five with just under 10 overs remaining when Dewald Brevis cuffed a catch off Neesham. Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen spent the majority of their time together forging a 73-run alliance. They took 22 off Neesham's third over, but just when it looked like they may force their way back into the game,

Matt Henry shut them out again in the 20th over, capturing two wickets for six runs. Jansen was left stranded with 55 from only 30 balls.
Allen and Seifert, on the other hand, did not pause to consider the risks and instead began hitting right away. Seifert took 11 from Jansen's opening over, and they proceeded from there. There were a few edges that dropped just short of the fielders or slipped through the holes in the field. South Africa squandered their greatest opportunity when De Kock insisted on calling for a high catch in the deep off Seifert, despite Brevis being closer to it.and then failed to cling onto it. Allen finished the game in just 11 overs, scoring a remarkable hundred off Jansen's last five balls.