PIC: Ben Motshwari of Orlando Pirates challenges Christian Saile of Kaizer Chiefs

The semifinal draw for the Nedbank Cup has handed us the biggest game in South African football and also ensures there will be one club in the May 27 decider who will compete in their first ever cup final.
Here is a quick guide to the two games, which will be played on the weekend of May 6-7.

KAIZER CHIEFS VS ORLANDO PIRATES
There were loud cheers among the thousands of Kaizer Chiefs fans at the Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday when they were drawn against their great Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates.
It is a tough tie, no doubt, but such has been Chiefs’ dominance over The Buccaneers in recent times that there can be plenty of cause of optimism.
The AmaKhosi have won their last five Soweto Derby games, a run of success not achieved since 1992 when they completed a club record six successive victories against the old enemy, a mark they can match in this Nedbank Cup tie.
Their last meeting was in late February when Chiefs claimed a slightly controversial 1-0 victory in the DStv Premiership.
Both clubs are on a desperate search for another win in the competition, with Chiefs having not lifted the trophy in a decade and Pirates since in 2014.
They have each lost finals since then (Pirates on two occasions), and will see this as a major chance to end their barren run. While Pirates won the MTN8 earlier this season (and in 2020), Chiefs have not claimed a trophy of any sort since 2015, a club record wait.
This will be the first Nedbank Cup meeting between the sides since 2016 when a brace of goals from Zimbabwe striker Tendai Ndoro secured a comfortable 2-0 win for Pirates.
That is the only meeting in the competition in its current guide, with the clash before that in South Africa’s FA Cup coming in the 2006 final as Chiefs triumphed 5-3 on penalties following a 0-0 draw.
Current Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane played for the AmaKhosi in that game, tearing down the wing. He is also a former Pirates player. 
Chiefs have had a mixed record in the semifinals of late – reaching this stage of the competition on four previous occasions since 2008 and winning two of those.
They beat second-tier United FC 2-1 in 2013 but lost to BidVest Wits on penalties following a 2-2 draw the following season.
They were back in the semifinals in 2018 but a 2-0 loss to Free State Stars in Durban brought fan unrest and the end of coach Steve Komphela’s tenure in charge.
They were back again in 2019 and defeated Chippa United 4-2, but lost the final to second-tier TS Galaxy, whose coach Dan Malesela took some revenge for that loss with United FC six years earlier.

Pirates have also had four semifinals in the last 15 years and won every one of them, a good omen for The Ghost.
They needed extra-time to beat Mpumalanga Black Aces in 2011 and edged Maritzburg United 2-1 in 2014. They went on to win both finals.
Pirates then defeated Free State Stars 4-2 in 2016 and Lamontville Golden Arrows 1-0 the following year, though they lost both finals to SuperSport United.
Before this year they had made the quarterfinals only once since then, so this will be a welcome return to the business end of the competition.
Chiefs have been to a record 19 previous finals in South Africa’s FA Cup, though that is only two more than Pirates, who could close the gap to just one this year. The AmaKhosi have 13 tournaments wins overall (also a record) to Pirates’ eight. 
Should Pirates advance they will equal Mamelodi Sundowns’ record of five Nedbank Cup finals since 2008. Chiefs have been to two over that period.

STELLENBOSCH FC VS SEKHUKHUNE UNITED
History beckons for one of these two sides, who are seeking a first ever major final as a club and will believe this is their year to go all the way in the Nedbank Cup.
Stellenbosch FC had never been beyond the second round before this season, while Sekhukhune had lost in the Last 32 in their two previous Nedbank Cup campaigns, meaning both have already achieved their best finish no matter what happens in their semifinal.

Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker has been to the Nedbank Cup final before, leading second-tier University of Pretoria to the 2009 decider where they lost 1-0 to Moroka Swallows.
How he would love to right that ‘wrong’ with his young, exciting side who saw off mighty Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarterfinals with a come-from-behind 2-1 win.

Home advantage will be huge for Stellenbosch in this fixture, though Sekhukhune did claim a 1-0 league win at the Danie Craven Stadium in January as Nigerian forward Chibuike Ohizu scored the only goal.
But Stellenbosch are vastly improved since then and have won four of their last five home games, the only blemish a 1-1 league draw with Sundowns where they again troubled the runaway DStv Premiership champions.
The other three meetings between Stellenbosch and Sekhukhune all ended 1-1, so the Cape Winelands club have yet to get a win against their opponents. They will feel one is overdue.
Stellenbosch are in fact the leading scorers in this year’s Nedbank Cup with 11 goals in their three games to date, which includes the epic 6-3 Last 16 victory at TS Galaxy.
They also have the leading individual scorer in Iqraam Rayners, who has six goals in three games having netted braces in each round. In total he has 11 goals in nine appearances since returning to Stellies from SuperSport United in January.
Rayners’ Nedbank Cup total for Stellenbosch is actually seven, having netted once in his first spell too, which is a club record. No other player has scored more than one goal for the side in the competition. 
This will be the seventh time in nine Nedbank Cup games that Stellenbosch are at home in the competition, though they have not necessarily made that count down the years with only two wins against Highlands Park (2018) and Swallows FC (2023).

Sekhukhune have 10 goals in this year’s Nedbank Cup after thumping fourth-tier Liver Brothers 6-0 in the Last 32, beating Cape Town Spurs 2-0 in the Last 16 and then a 2-1 quarterfinal victory at Chippa United. 
Their only outright defeat in five Nedbank Cup ties came in a 2-1 loss at Maritzburg United in the Last 32 in 2021.