Picture Credit: X
At the start of the second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 between South Africa and New Zealand, the fans on social media platform X highlighted the empty stands at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, with one of them calling it a “disgrace”. With a high stakes Champions Trophy semi-final currently in progress, to earn the right to play India in the final of the tournament, it will be interesting to see if the stands at the stadium start to fill up as the afternoon progresses.
For the unversed, the New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and decided to bat first on a belter of a pitch given at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in front of limited numbers of fans present in the stands. Lungi Ngidi picked up the first wicket of the day for South Africa, deceiving Will Young into hitting a false shot, which led to his dismissal for 21 runs in 23 balls.
Rachin Ravindra, his opening partner, has been batting exceptionally for New Zealand, scoring an unbeaten 59 off 51 including nine fours, while Kane Williamson playing alongside him on 26 off 34, as of writing. With that, New Zealand have managed to reach a solid total of 109/1 in 18 overs, setting up the best possible platform to put a big score on the board for South Africa to chase down.
Here are the posts from fans criticising Pakistan cricket for empty stands at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for CT semi-final:
Below are the playing XIs of South Africa and New Zealand for their Champions Trophy semi-final clash:
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Will O'Rourke
