Champions Trophy | ‘There’s that little bit more class in the South African line-up’: Ricky Ponting backs SA against NZ in 2nd semifinal | Cricket News

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting on Tuesday said that South Africa are favourites against New Zealand in the second semifinal, scheduled to take place in Lahore on Wednesday. Ponting reasons that the Proteas’ deep batting lineup is the reason that they hold the edge over the Kiwis.
“If I look at both the sides, I think there’s that little bit more class in the South African line-up. They bat deep. I think they might have a little bit too much power for New Zealand,” Pointing opined on ICC Review on Tuesday.
“I’m actually going with South Africa (to win the contest) as much as I’ve praised New Zealand,” he added.
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Ponting also feels the likes of opener Ryan Rickelton, skipper Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen could make things difficult for the Kiwis.
“He’s (Klaasen) very important because he is such a dangerous player of spin bowling. He’s such a great, clean hitter of spin. He is important to the middle order but South Africa bat deep like India. And, with a world-class all-rounder like Marco Jansen and obviously Aiden Markram, (Temba) Bavuma, David Miller… their batting is really strong. That middle order.
“I think Klaasen has been the No.1 T20 batter for long and if he brings that sort of stuff to the 50-over game… If he goes in around the 30-over mark and South Africa are 2-3 down, then he can be truly dangerous,” he said.
However, the former Australian player said that if Kane Williamson plays well, the Kiwis might retake the advantage from the Proteas. Williamson hasn’t had the best Champions Trophy scoring 1 against Pakan and 5 against Bangladesh. But he found form in the last group A game against India where he scored 81 runs.
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“Williamson, I think, needs to make runs for them in this game. Every team needs their big players standing up in big moments. Big games mean big names. It doesn’t get bigger than the Champions Trophy semifinals. And, Williamson is a big-game player, he will understand the enormity of his role going into the game and I won’t be surprised if he gets the job done,” Ponting said.