Connor Esterhuizen dazzled under the lights at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. In a game where it was a winner take all game, Connor Esterhuizen batted at Number 4, a lower position than previous match but still dazzled and outshone other batters. Put into bat first, South Africa rode on batting masterclass and the finishing kick from Connor Etserhuizen to post an above par 187/4 in 20 overs.
In reply, the New Zealand innings never got going as South Africa put in an all-round bowling display led by Gerald Coetzee’s 2-wicket hauls ably supported by Wiaan Mulder and Ottniel Baartman’s 2-wickets hauls as well while captain Keshav Maharaj got a wicket as well. South Africa won by a whopping 33 runs which is a considerable margin in T20 cricket.
Connor Esterhuizen’s Breath-taking 75 powers South Africa to 187/4
Put into bat first, Tony de Zorzi and Wiaan Mulder came out to bat for South Africa while Kyle Jamieson had ball in hand for New Zealand. The duo gave the Proteas a steady start as they put on 21 runs for the first wicket inside 3.3 overs before de Zorzi was the first to depart for 12 off 14 balls with 3 fours to his name as it was a struggle for the left-hander out there. Rubin Hermann came out to bat next.
Hermann looked fluent from the get-go and was the dominant of the two players. Mulder took his time and played the anchor role quite well. South Africa at the end of powerplay overs were 43/1 in 6 overs and off to a steady start. They went beyond that and upped the ante a little bit even as New Zealand did not help themselves in the field with dropped catches. They took the score to 76/1 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game. Soon, the budding partnership of 55 runs for the second wicket was broken as Mulder fell for 31 off 29 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Josh Clarkson.
Keeper batter Connor Esterhuizen walked out to join Hermann in the middle now for the second half of the innings and he meant business from the word go. Hermann and Connor complimented each other really well. They played through the rest of the middle overs and took it to the end overs. The duo added 49 runs at a fair clip before Hermann fell for 39 off 31 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name to Ben Sears thanks to an awesome one-handed catch from Nick Kelly. Dian Forrester came out to bat next.
We were in the end overs now and this is where Connor stepped up and provided the finishing kick to the innings. Forrester complimented him with his cameo but the moment and night belonged to Connor who was also given reprieves and he made the most of it. Connor made back-to-back fifties and went beyond that. The duo almost played till 20 overs and added 61 runs inside the last 5 overs of the innings before Connor fell with 2 balls left in the innings for 75 off 33 balls with 5 fours and 6 sixes to his name to Sears.
Jason Smith came to face the last two balls of the innings out of which he played a dot ball and then got a single to end the innings. Forrester remained unbeaten on 21 off 13 balls with one four and one six to his name while Smith remained unbeaten on 1 off 2 balls. 8 extras given by the fielding side as South Africa ended with an above par score of 187/4 in 20 overs.
It was a mixed bag bowling performance by New Zealand bowlers. Ben Sears finished with 2/37 in 4 overs. Zak Foulkes was excellent with his 1/22 in 4 overs. Josh Clarkson finished with 1/14 in 2 overs. Jimmy Neesham the captain bowled 2 overs for 21 runs. Cole McConchie bowled 4 overs for 48 runs. Kyle Jamieson bowled 4 overs for 43 runs. This meant that the target for New Zealand was 188 runs in 20 overs to win series 3-2.
All-Round Bowling Display led by Gerald Coetzee restricts New Zealand to 154/8
Chasing 188 for an improbable win, Katene Clarke and Tim Robinson came out to bat for New Zealand while Gerald Coetzee had ball in hand for South Africa. The openers could not give New Zealand a solid start as they put on 11 runs for the first wicket in 1.3 overs as Clarke was dismissed for 2 off 4 balls strangle down the leg side off Wiaan Mulder. Dane Cleaver came out to bat and showed the right intent.
The duo tried to forge some sort of partnership to rebuild the innings for the Kiwis but the battle was a long one. The duo put on 35 runs for the second wicket before Cleaver fell for 22 off 17 balls with 3 fours to his name to Ottniel Baartman. Nick Kelly came to the crease next. At the end of the powerplay in the chase, New Zealand were 46/2 in 6 overs. So, there was nothing really in it after powerplay overs.
Robinson and Kelly tried to forge a stand as well but it was a real struggle for Kelly out there in the middle. Just 16 runs were added by the duo before Robinson fell for 25 off 20 balls with one four to his name to a run out. Bevon John Jacobs came out to bat next. Just 7 runs later, Kelly too fell for a struggling 14 off 18 balls with one boundary to his name clean bowled by captain Keshav Maharaj. New Zealand were reeling at 69/4 in 10.2 overs when captain Jimmy Neesham came out to bat.
Jacobs and Neesham had work to do to drag the Kiwis back in the game and make a match out of it as the required rate was climbing up all the time. They did try and built a nice stand together with Jacobs doing bulk of the scoring and hitting while Neesham went at run a ball throughout struggling for timing. The duo added a valuable 52-run stand for the 5th wicket at a fair clip and took the game to the death overs phase before Jacobs fell for 36 off 19 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Baartman. Josh Clarkson came out to bat next.
But one sensed that with the Jacobs wicket, the match had gone out of New Zealand’s hand now. Neesham and Clarkson still tried what they could do and added 22 more runs to the tally before Clarkson fell for 13 off 10 balls with 2 fours to his name to Coetzee. Cole McConchie came out to bat next. McConchie came and went in a blink of an eye as just two runs were added to the score before McConchie fell for 1 off 2 balls to Coetzee who had two wickets in the over.
Zak Foulkes came out to bat next. 4 more runs were added to the tally before Neesham nicked a length ball down the leg side to the keeper for 24 off 24 balls with 2 fours to his name to Mulder thanks to DRS used by South Africa. Kyle Jamieson came out to bat next with 5 balls left in the contest. Foulkes and Jamieson added 5 runs off 5 balls to finish New Zealand’s innings at 154/8 in 20 overs. Foulkes remained unbeaten on 4 off 2 balls with a boundary to his name while Jamieson was unbeaten on 4 off 4 balls. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
South Africa put in a clinical bowling display. The pick of the bowlers in the end was Gerald Coetzee who finished with 2/21 in 4 overs. Wiaan Mulder finished with 2/28 in 3 overs. Ottniel Baartman finished with 2/33 in 4 overs. Captain Keshav Maharaj finished with 1/35 in 3 overs. George Linde bowled 2 overs for 11 runs while Prenelan Subrayen bowled 4 overs for 22 runs. Both wicketless but economical spells. So, South Africa wins the match by 33 runs and the series 3-2. Connor Esterhuizen was awarded both Player of the Match and Series Awards.
And with that, the 5-match T20I series between New Zealand and South Africa comes to an end with the visitors winning the series 3-2. New Zealand will head off to Bangladesh for a white-ball series in mid-April next while South Africa has brief pause in their international cricket. IPL and PSL are on the horizon, so plenty of cricket happening all around the world.
Also Read: NZ vs SA: Connor Esterhuizen’s Half-Century Helps South Africa Level Series 2-2