Tom Latham unpacks New Zealand’s steely mentality ahead of semifinal

The Black Caps remain unphased by their recent travel disruptions, as they sharpen their focus for South Africa and a shot at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final.

New Zealand have returned from their trip to Dubai ready to overcome whatever the Champions Trophy throws at them.

Like plenty of other teams, they’ve been made to not only travel, but adapt to varying pitches and conditions.

The slow and low deck in Dubai helped bring them unstuck last start, looking to reach India’s total of 249 but falling 44 runs short.

The task now is to adjust back to Lahore conditions in time for their semifinals date with the Proteas on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media ahead of their clash with South Africa, keeper Tom Latham wasn’t in an excuse-making mood, describing his team’s ‘anywhere, anytime’ mentality.

“(The scheduling) is something that's out of our control,” he said.

“For us it is about turning up at each game regardless of where it is and trying to play our best brand of cricket as best we can. So, whether it be here, whether it be in Pakistan, our focus will obviously be on South Africa.

“I think we've seen throughout the games in Pakistan that towards the back end of the game, a little bit of juice settles in and sometimes can be a little bit easier. A little bit nicer to bat on potentially, so yeah we'll have to wait and see what we get, or what sort of the surface is, and go from there.”

It so happens New Zealand played South Africa at this same Lahore venue right before the Champions Trophy kicked off, in the Tri-series involving Pakistan that was used as a lead-up event. They edged out the Proteas in a six-wicket win, chasing down their total of 304 with eight balls to spare.

And Latham confirmed the Kiwis certainly intend to draw on that experience.

“We're fortunate enough we had a Tri-series in Pakistan and against South Africa,” he continued.

“So, we've got a chance to look back on those experiences and give it our best in a semifinal, which is pretty cool.”

It’s yet to be seen whether New Zealand’s loss to India will dent their confidence in any way.

They’ve won eight of their 10 ODIs played in 2025, which included winning the lean-up Tri-Series final against Pakistan.

But, of course, none of those matches had stakes and pressure as high as what Wednesday’s contest brings. They’ll take on a South African team that has already qualified for two ICC finals in the last year – the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup decider and the ICC World Test Championship final to be played mid-year against Australia.

“They've been playing some fantastic cricket,” Latham continued.

“They've got some match winners throughout their side and they've been playing fantastically well in these conditions. We know that there's a lot of hard work to do to get to (the final) … we know how strong South Africa are.

“They've got all bases covered in terms of batting, bowling and in the field. So, I guess you look at it, I'm sure it'll be a fantastic game, and I'm sure both teams are really looking forward to it.”

ROAD TO THE SEMIFINALS

The Black Caps are in impressive form in ODI cricket of late, despite a recent hiccup against India in their most recent encounter.

New Zealand have shown fine form during the tournament so far, with great displays with bat and ball.

NEW ZEALAND DEFEATED PAKISTAN BY 60 RUNS

They opened the tournament by defeating Pakistan by 60 runs. Will Young and Tom Latham both hit hundreds as the Black Caps amassed a total of 320/5, with 113 coming off the last ten overs.

Mitchell Santner and Will O'Rourke then took three wickets apiece as they bowled the co-hosts out for 260.

NEW ZEALAND DEFEATED BANGLADESH BY FIVE WICKETS

They then knocked Bangladesh out of the tournament with a five-wicket win.

Michael Bracewell was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4/23. Rachin Ravindra came to the crease with his side at 15/2 and capped off his return brief stint on the sidelines brilliantly, producing a memorable century. Combined with a fifty from Latham, they made good headway towards the target, leaving it to the sixth-wicket partnership of Glenn Phillips and Bracewell to see the team home with 23 balls to spare.

Back-to-back wins confirmed semifinal qualification.

NEW ZEALAND LOST TO INDIA BY 44 RUNS

Top spot in Group A was on the line when the Black Caps travelled to Dubai to take on India and it wasn't to as New Zealand had to settle for a runner-up finish and a semifinal showdown against South Africa.

The Kiwis tried hard against India, with Matt Henry collecting an impressive five-wicket haul as Rohit Sharma's side was restricted to just 249/9 from their 50 overs.

Kane Williamson collected a half-century in reply, but it wasn't enough as New Zealand was bowled out for just 205 to leave the side 44 runs short of victory.