Matt Henry delivered a terrific final over by defending 7 runs against in-form Dewald Brevis, who was batting at 31 off 14 balls. New Zealand won the tri-series final by a whisker and by just 3 runs and remained unbeaten throughout the series. South Africa choked in yet another must-win game.
Champion Kiwis
New Zealand dominated the entire tournament by winning all the matches and leading the charts of runs and wickets. New Zealand’s top three are the top run-getters of this series despite Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway playing one less match.
Most runs in the tri-series
- Tim Siefert – 196 runs ( 5 matches )
- Rachin Ravindra – 143 runs ( 4 matches )
- Devon Conway – 134 runs ( 4 matches )
- Dewald Brevis – 133 runs ( 5 matches )
- Rubin Hermann – 130 runs ( 5 matches )
They also domianted the wickets column as the hero of the final Matt Henry was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament.
Most wickets in this tri-series:
- Matt Henry – 10 wickets ( 4 matches )
- Richard Ngarava – 8 wickets ( 4 matches )
- Ish Sodhi – 6 wickets ( 2 matches )
- Jacob Duffy – 6 wickets ( 4 matches )
- Lungi Ngidi – 5 wickets ( 4 matches )
Three of the top-five wicket takers of the series are from New Zealand. Ish Sodhi registered his best bowling figure of his T20I career ( 4-12-4) against Zimbabwe in the league match.
Proteas choked once again
South Africa performed well for most of the final game except the final over. New Zealand were cruising towards a strong total of 190-200 with valuable contributions from the top-3 again, South African bowlers pulled back in the death overs by conceding just 3 boundaries in the last 5 overs.
New Zealand were restricted to 180, which is still a decent score to defend in the high-pressure final. Proteas started the chase well with Lhaun-dre- Pretorius scoring his maiden T20I fifty. The openers made a partnership of 92 runs in just 9.4 overs and were well in control of the chase.
After the dismissal of openers, the run-rate dipped slightly, but it was compensated well by Dewald Brevis in the death overs. South Africa needed just 7 runs in the last over with Dewald Brevis and George Linde in the crease. It looked like they have sealed the victory and just one match away.
Matt Henry took the ball in the last over. He dismissed Dewald Brevis ( 31 off 16 ) in the second ball and George Linde ( 10 off 10 ) in the fifth ball. South Africa lost the match by a margin of just 3 runs.
Catches win matches
This is the most popular phrase of cricket, which is being repeatedly proven again and again. It was yet again proved in the finals. New Zealand grabbed the victory from the jaws of South Africa just by their brilliant catching in the last over.
Dewald Brevis almost sealed the match with his short cameo of 31 runs from 14 balls. He smashed the second ball of the last over in the mid-wicket region, which was caught by Michael Bracwell in the deep. He caught the ball, threw it in the air and crossed the boundary line, jumped inside and completed the catch.
That was the turning point of the match, and it gave hope to the Kiwis. Brevis walked back for 31 off 16 balls. In the fifth ball when South Africa needed 4 out off 2 balls, George Linde was in strike. He lofted the ball straight in the long-on region, dismissed by an extraordinary catch from Daryl Mitchell in the long-on on.
These two catches saved New Zealand in the finals, and in the end, they won the match and lifted the trophy.
Also Read: NZ vs SA: 3 Reasons For South Africa’s Shocking Defeat Against New Zealand