Travel fatigue was the hot topic in both New Zealand and South Africa camps right before their semifinal clash of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy but both sides were adamant to keep this issue on the sideline and focus on the task at hand at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium today.

Both the Kiwis and the Proteas reached Lahore from Dubai on Monday in separate flights, with New Zealand arriving in the morning and South Africa reaching in the evening.

The Black Caps left Dubai a couple of hours after their final Group A fixture against India on Sunday, which they lost by 44 runs.

Meanwhile, South Africa travelled back to Dubai after beating England in their last Group B match because if India had lost to New Zealand on Sunday, then the Proteas would have had to face the Indians in the first semifinal, which took place yesterday.

But as India had won that game, the Proteas had to fly back to Pakistan to face New Zealand in the semifinal.

"I think scheduling is an issue just all around," New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner, who looked exhausted due to travel fatigue, said during the official press conference in Lahore yesterday.

"I think when you do have time to rest and recover, I think it's very important with the quick turnaround of games. One-day cricket can be quite exhausting on the body, so I think for us today [Tuesday] it might be making sure the bowlers are ready for tomorrow [today]."

Although all New Zealand players attended their scheduled practice session at the Gaddafi Stadium yesterday noon, their training was limited to some light warm-ups. Meanwhile, South Africa had their practice session at the same venue under floodlights.

"I think, logistically, things could have been, I guess, more efficient… We definitely don't use that as an excuse in terms of our preparation or anything like that. Our mind is geared to what we need to do for tomorrow [today]," South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said in his press meet in the evening.

South Africa and New Zealand have won this competition before, with the former winning the inaugural edition in 1998 and the latter winning it in 2000.

However, both sides have a reputation of faltering in the final hurdle with the Kiwis finishing as runners-up in the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cup and 2021 T20 World Cup and South Africa finishing second in 2024 T20 World Cup.

Both teams, who last faced off in a knockout fixture in the 2015 ODI World Cup, will be looking to first qualify for the final on March 9 and this time go all the way.