T20 World Cup | Three contenders make Group D the most exciting

Group D of the T20 World Cup features thrilling contenders: South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan, plus Canada and UAE's ambitions.

For the purists, a World Cup comes only once in four years. It gives the winner adequate time to savour the success while it provides the vanquished enough time to reflect and regroup. Not to be missed is the majestic ring to the words ‘quadrennial extravaganza’.

But T20 cricket is no purists’ delight. And the associated World Cup comes every two years. In fact, the upcoming edition in India and Sri Lanka will be played within 20 months of the previous tournament in the United States and West Indies.

One team that will not be complaining is South Africa. In the 2024 final against India, the Proteas had victory in sight at 151 for four chasing 177, only to go home empty-handed. Catharsis can come quickly in 2026. It helps that South Africa is more pedigreed now, having won the ICC World Test Championship in 2025 and shed the tag of a chronic underachiever.

In terms of personnel, there is no Heinrich Klaasen, but leader Aiden Markram has an equally devastating batter in Dewald Brevis, and superlative cricketers in Quinton de Kock, 36-year-old David Miller — probably playing his last World Cup — and Tristan Stubbs.

In contrast, the bowling seems a tad underwhelming, but Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj are notable names, and they will be desperate to live up to their reputation.

The Kiwis, too, have some bad memories to erase, like their non-qualification out of the group stage in 2024. But they have a capable squad, with fierce top-order hitters in Finn Allen and Tim Seifert, and middle-order musclemen in Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell. Most recently, Allen smashed a 38-ball 80 against India in Thiruvananthapuram while Seifert a 36-ball 62 in Visakhapatnam.