HARARE: New Zealand’s bowlers set up a comfortable seven-wicket win against South Africa in their Zimbabwe Twenty20 International tri-series match here at the Harare Sports Club on Tuesday.
South Africa were restricted to 134 for eight in their 20 overs after being sent in.
New Zealand opening batsman Tim Seifert hit 66 not out as the Black Caps cruised to victory with 25 balls to spare.
New Zealand maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament and will go into the final against the same opponents at the same venue on Saturday as strong favourites.
They won their first match against the Proteas by 21 runs.
South Africa could score only 18 runs in the first five overs despite losing only one wicket.
“The way we bowled in the power play was outstanding,” said New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner.
“Our bowlers found a length and found some swing and we were able to squeeze from there,” said Santner.
Jacob Duffy and Adam Milne took two wickets each while fellow pace bowler Zachary Foulkes only conceded 12 runs in his three overs.
South Africa packed their team with spin bowlers but the tactic unravelled in the first over, bowled by left-arm spinner George Linde, as they attempted to defend a low total.
Linde started with two wides, one of which went to the boundary for four extra runs.
Then the 30-year-old Seifert was dropped at long-off before he had scored. The over cost 15 runs.
Seifert and fellow opener Devon Conway (19) took the total to 50 in the first five overs and the Black Caps were in control for the rest of the match.
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH AFRICA:
R. van der Dussen b Milne 14
R. Hendricks c Bracewell b Duffy 41
R. Hermann run out 10
D. Brevis c Seifert b O’Rourke 13
L.D. Pretorius c Duffy b Santner 1
A. Simelane lbw Santner 11
G. Linde not out 23
G. Coetzee c Seifert b Duffy 0
S. M’samy c Ravindra b Milne 8
N. Peter not out 7
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-4) 6
TOTAL (for 8 wkts, 20 overs) 134
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14 (van der Dussen), 2-34 (Hermann), 3-52 (Brevis), 4-57 (Pretorius), 5-79 (Simelane), 6-109 (Hendricks), 7-109 (Coetzee), 8-121 (Muthusamy)
DID NOT BAT: K. Maphaka
BOWLING: Duffy 4-0-33-2 (1w), Foulkes 3-0-12-0, Milne 4-0-21-2, Santner 4-1-26-2, O’Rourke 4-0-26-1 (3w), Ravindra 1-0-14-0
NEW ZEALAND:
D. Conway c Pretorius b Simelane 19
T. Seifert not out 66
R. Ravindra c Hendricks b M’samy 3
M. Chapman c Hermann b M’samy 10
D. Mitchell not out 20
EXTRAS (W-17) 17
TOTAL (for 3 wkts, 15.5 overs) 135
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-51 (Conway), 2-59 (Ravindra), 3-84 (Chapman)
DID NOT BAT: M. Bracewell, M. Santner, B. Foulkes, A. Milne, J. Duffy, W. O’Rourke
BOWLING: Linde 3-0-30-0 (2w), Coetzee 3-0-37-0 (3w), Maphaka 2.5-0-19-0 (1w), Simelane 1-0-5-1 (1w), Muthusamy 4-0-24-2, Peter 2-0-20-0 (2w)
RESULT: New Zealand won by seven wickets.
PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Tim Seifert
Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2025
