NZ vs SA, Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series: New Zealand’s winning run continues, thanks to one key knock

New Zealand were successful in beating South Africa for the second time in the Zimbabwe T20I Tri-series 2025 on July 22 at the Harare Cricket Club, Harare. The Kiwis beat the Proteas by 7 wickets.

New Zealand team celebrating (Image Credit: Zimbabwe Cricket)

In the 5th match of the Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series, New Zealand beat South Africa by seven wickets and retained the first position in the points table. With this win, the Kiwis remain unbeaten in the series, having won three matches in a row. It looked like an easy win for New Zealand as they completed the game with five overs to spare.

Kiwis' captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to bowl first. It was a calculated decision, keeping the pitch conditions in mind. South Africa's batting lineup fell like a pack of cards, and they could only manage to score 134 runs in the first innings. Reeza Hendricks scored 41 runs off 37 balls, which was the highest individual score for a Proteas' batter. New Zealand bowlers did a great job in troubling the batters throughout the innings. Jacob Duffy, Adam Milne, and Santner claimed two wickets each.

Even with a low target to chase, New Zealand lost two quick wickets at 59 runs. However, Tim Seifert's impressive batting helped them win the match. The opener scored 66 runs off 48 balls, hitting six boundaries and two sixes. It was an incredible batting effort from Daryl Mitchell as well who held up the other end. He scored an unbeaten 20 runs off 15 balls, including two boundaries. For his magnificent batting effort, Seifert was named Player of the Match.

From a personal point of view, getting runs, it's good: Seifert

New Zealand's opening batter Tim Seifert was quite happy with the team's effort. He spoke about the pitch, and how important it is to adapt to the conditions during the post-match presentation. New Zealand will meet the Proteas once again in the finals of the Tri-series.

"From a personal point of view, getting runs, it's good. The guys are batting well and everyone are contributing. The pitches here are quite similar, Zimbabwe have taller guys and South African guys are skiddy. Adapting to the conditions, one of those wickets where you never feel like you are in. On these wickets, you need to graft," said Tim Seifert at the post-match presentation.

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