Tom Latham unpacks New Zealand’s steely mentality ahead of semi-final
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 semi-finals date with the Proteas on Wednesday.
Spinners give India third win in a row | Match Highlights | Champions Trophy 2025
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.”
Young, Latham tons power New Zealand to victory over Pakistan | Match Highlights | Champions Trophy 2025
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 semi-final, which is pretty cool.”
South Africa march into the semis with a confident win | Match Highlights | Champions Trophy 2025
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.”
