Bowlers hand South Africa early series lead

Barely 11 days after getting blown away in the semifinal, South Africa got the better of New Zealand in the opening T20I at Mount Maunganui on Sunday (March 15) to take an early series lead. While it wouldn't necessarily count as a 'payback' for that fateful night in Kolkata, the performance would still serve as a morale-booster for a makeshift South African outfit led by Keshav Maharaj.

With a short turnaround, New Zealand didn't field their strongest XI either. In fact, only three players from the team that turned up in the semifinal managed to feature in this series opener. South Africa, on their part, went into this fixture with four debutants in their XI. While the New Zealand openers put on a show in the knockout fixture on March 4, Devon Conway and the returning Tom Latham were both back in the pavilion inside 13 deliveries, with both batters getting dismissed by Gerald Coetzee.

Ottneil Baartman then struck twice in a single over, forcing Mitchell Santner to walk out to the crease in just the fourth over of the innings. Santner tried to break the shackles with a boundary in the following over, and Bevon Jacobs then lofted one down the ground in the final over of the Powerplay to try and inject some momentum into the floundering innings. However, Jacobs perished soon after, while attempting a non-existent single and was run out.

Losing half their side in the Powerplay, New Zealand needed a miracle to salvage the innings. While Jimmy Neesham made an attempt to lift his side, South Africa always needed just a wicket or two to capitalise on the advantage. Once Santner was sent packing, debutant Nqobani Mokoena ran through the lower order. A slower ball from the 19-year-old saw Neesham mistime one and edge it behind to the keeper, before Mokoena struck twice more to put New Zealand out of their misery in the 15th over.

A target of 92 wasn't very straightforward for South Africa though. Zakary Foulkes ensured Tony de Zorzi never got going, and a top catch from Latham saw Rubin Hermann walk back to the pavilion the very next ball after he smashed a six. Connor Esterhuizen sent one to the roof of the stadium to ensure South Africa finished the Powerplay on a high note.

The run rate was still just hovering around 6 though, as South Africa didn't have to take any risks with a target ahead of them. Jason Smith, who played just once in the World Cup, finally got an opportunity here, but couldn't capitalise. Even though the spinners kept the runs in check on a two-paced surface, South Africa didn't panic. Esterhuizen and Dian Forrester batted sensibly to inch closer to the target before the former nailed the pull to perfection to finish the job with 20 balls to spare.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 91 in 14.3 overs (James Neesham 26; Nqobani Mokoena 3-26, Gerald Coetzee 2-14) lost to South Africa 93/3 in 16.4 overs (Connor Esterhuizen 45*; Mitchell Santner 1-8) by 7 wickets