It was a great evening for cricket lovers on 16 July 2025, when a great T20 match of the triangular series was played between New Zealand and South Africa. While on one hand New Zealand made a strong comeback after recovering from a bad start, on the other hand, the South African team looked in the match for a while, but eventually had to face defeat by 21 runs. This match was excellent in every aspect of batting, bowling and fielding.
Strong comeback
New Zealand lost 5 wickets for 70 runs while batting first, but the excellent partnership of Tim Robinson and Bevan Jacobs took the score to 173/5.
Robinson-Jacobs pair
Both of them together changed the direction of the match. Showing the right balance of aggression and patience, they took the team to a strong score.
Praise for the captain
Mitchell Santner praised the pair after the match and said that we did not expect that we would cross 170.
Proteas’ fast start
South Africa started fast towards the target of 174 runs and Luan-Dre Pretorius played a quick innings of 27 runs.
Rapid decline
After the initial enthusiasm, South Africa’s innings faltered and half the team returned to the pavilion at 62 runs.
Van der Dussen’s runout
The captain himself got run out on a brilliant direct throw, which further increased the difficulties of the team.
Efforts of Brevis and Linde
Both scored 30-30 runs and gave the team hope of victory, but got out early and changed the course of the match.
Bowling’s brilliance
New Zealand’s Henry and Duffy took 3-3 wickets, Ish Sodhi got 2 and Neesham got 1 wicket.
Man of the Match
Tim Robinson: Robinson was chosen as the Player of the Match for taking the team to a strong score by being composed in difficult times.
Next match
Now New Zealand’s next match will be against Zimbabwe on 18th July. This match will be important for both the teams.
Conclusion
While New Zealand celebrated the victory in this thrilling match, South Africa realized many shortcomings – especially in batting and middle order strategy. Captain Van der Dussen clearly said that the team will definitely make a comeback. Overall, this match was a great example of cricket’s thrill and struggle. Now it will be interesting to see who wins in the next encounter!
October 9, 2025