New Zealand Crush South Africa Again in Dominant Tri-Series Showdown
So here's what's going down in the Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series — and it’s heating up fast. Earlier today in Harare, we witnessed a big clash between New Zealand and South Africa, the fifth match of the series, and boy, it was a complete show from the Kiwis. New Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, won the toss and chose to bowl first, a decision that seems to be working out perfectly for them throughout this series. And once again, it paid off handsomely.
The Proteas were sent in to bat, and while there were flashes of aggression — especially from Reeza Hendricks who top-scored with 41 — their innings just never quite took off. Adam Milne struck early, bowling out South Africa’s skipper Rassie van der Dussen in the very first over, setting the tone. There was some resistance in the middle with Hermann and Hendricks trying to stabilize, but once Hermann was run out thanks to a brilliant effort from Mark Chapman, the South African innings started to unravel.
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Brevis hit a couple of nice shots but couldn’t stick around, and Santner himself made crucial inroads by dismissing both Pretorius and Simelane. South Africa ended with 134 for 8 — and to be honest, that total felt 20-30 runs short of par. It wasn’t just the low score though; it was how unsettled their middle order looked, especially against the sharp Kiwi bowling unit.
Then came the chase, and if South Africa had any hopes of defending that total, they needed early wickets. Unfortunately, their fielding let them down almost instantly. Andile Simelane dropped Tim Seifert on zero, and that proved costly — Seifert went on to hammer an unbeaten 66. He was simply brilliant — driving, sweeping, even lofting one straight into the pub over long-on. The man was in full flow.
He was well supported initially by Devon Conway, who added 51 with him for the first wicket, and then Daryl Mitchell came in towards the end to polish things off. There were a few hiccups in the middle — Conway nicked one behind, and Rachin Ravindra also fell quickly — but South Africa never really looked like they were going to make a serious comeback.
New Zealand chased the target down with nearly five overs to spare, winning by seven wickets. That’s now three wins in a row for them in this tri-series. Their bowlers, led by Milne, Santner, and Duffy, have been consistently effective, and their top order is clicking at just the right time.
Now all eyes are on the final, scheduled for July 26. It’ll be New Zealand vs South Africa again — and if today was anything to go by, the Proteas have a lot of work to do if they want to flip the script. But in T20s, anything can happen, and the final promises to be a cracker.
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