At the Harare Sports Club on July 16, New Zealand defeated South Africa by 21 runs in the second game of the Zimbabwe Twenty20 Tri-Series. When asked to bat first, the Kiwis got off to a respectable start. With his 16-ball 22, Tim Seifert got them off to a fast start, but the top order found it difficult to capitalise. Three of the top five—James Neesham, Mitchell Hay, and Daryl Mitchell—and Devon Conway dropped on nine.
After that, debutant Bevon Jacobs blasted 44* off 30 balls, while Tim Robinson led the innings with an undefeated 75* off 57 balls. Their 103-run unbroken partnership was the second-highest sixth-wicket partnership in New Zealand’s T20I history. The pair increased the score to 173/5 after smashing 43 runs in the last three overs.
South Africa’s response got off to a fast start as Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 27 off 17 and struck six boundaries.
However, the Proteas collapsed as Duffy took out Rubin Hermann and Matt Henry caught him behind. The team lost captain Rassie van der Dussen, Senuran Muthusamy, and Reeza Hendricks for low scores within the ninth over.
New Zealand wins to start the series.
With his 35 off 18 balls, Dewald Brevis attempted to steady the innings but was dismissed by Henry. The squad then recovered with 30 runs from George Linde and a 37-run partnership with Gerald Coetzee. Linde and Kwea Maphaka were both dismissed in consecutive deliveries by Duffy, who was brought back. Then Henry came back to take out Coetzee and complete the win. Together, Duffy (3/20), Henry (3/34), and Ish Sodhi (2/34) took eight wickets, ensuring that the series got off to a strong start.
“I feel fantastic, of course. Contributing to a victory is always amazing. We had a difficult beginning there, so it was great to continue with Bev. The Proteas bowlers deserve praise for their excellent bowling, particularly when fresh hitters entered the game. Bev and I were talking about going deeper. The ball appeared to fly, and the wicket was good. It seemed like a good surface to me. After winning Player of the Match, Robinson remarked, “It was hard to get in, but once you got in, you could trust the wicket, and it was beautiful to bat.”
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