Temba Bavuma conceded South Africa "left too much for the middle order to do" during their Champions Trophy semi-final defeat by New Zealand.

The Proteas were denied the chance to go head-to-head with India in Sunday's showpiece following their 50-run defeat in Lahore.

New Zealand's total of 362-6 just proved too much for South Africa, despite David Miller's quickfire century later on.

Bavuma (56) and Rassie van der Dussen (69) kick-started the chase to put their side at 125-1, but they lost momentum after both were dismissed by Mitchell Santner in the space of seven overs.

Having won the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998, the Proteas have now lost each of their last four semi-finals in the competition.

And Bavuma acknowledged the Black Caps were just too strong for his side.

MATCH RESULT

A well-contested game; unfortunate to be on the wrong side of the result. It's been quite a wonderful campaign for our Proteas in this year's ICC #Champions Trophy.#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #ChampionsTrophy #NZvSA pic.twitter.com/dwDSPsch3a

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) March 5, 2025

"I do think they were above par," he said. "As well as they batted, anything over 350, we'd back ourselves to chase with the wicket, hopefully, getting better.

"From a batting point of view, we didn't get those partnerships. There were one or two there, but we needed either myself or Rassie van der Dussen to emulate their top four.

"[The target of] 363 was always going to be tough. We needed someone to play well. David [Miller] did that, but we needed someone else.

"They put us under pressure from the get-go, the way they were able to pierce the off-side and keep scoring boundaries in the middle phase.

"Normally, we pride ourselves on our ability to take wickets, especially in the middle period. If you go into the death phase with wickets in hand, it's difficult to contain. Credit to their batters, they put us under pressure.

"At 125-1 with myself and Rassie still batting, you wanted both of us to keep going until the 30th over. We know how destructive our middle order can be when they come in during the last 20 overs.

"We weren't able to do that. A soft dismissal for me, a better one for Rassie. We left too much for the middle order to do."