New Zealand Unbeaten Ahead of Tri-Series Final Against South Africa in Harare

New Zealand Unbeaten Ahead of Tri-Series Final Against South Africa in Harare

New Zealand will take the field in Harare with momentum firmly on their side, having gone unbeaten in four matches during the ongoing T20 tri-series. In today’s final, South Africa’s stand-in captain Rassie van der Dussen won the toss and elected to bowl first, citing favourable chasing conditions—four out of six matches in the tournament so far have been won by the team bowling first.

However, the toss result is unlikely to rattle New Zealand. Just two days ago, they posted the competition’s highest total—190—while batting first. Furthermore, the Black Caps have already defeated South Africa twice in the group stage and will feel confident of a repeat performance.

In a bid to bolster their top order, New Zealand welcomed back experienced campaigners Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell, replacing Tim Robinson and Bevon Jacobs. The side opted to leave out legspinner Ish Sodhi, despite his recent milestone of 150 T20I wickets. Spin responsibilities will instead fall to captain Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell, while a potent four-man pace attack is led by Jacob Duffy—the top-ranked T20I bowler. He is joined by Adam Milne, Matt Henry, and Zakary Foulkes.

South Africa, on the other hand, have also named a competitive XI. Gerald Coetzee was left out, with the pace attack comprising Corbin Bosch, young quick Kwena Maphaka, and Nandre Burger. The spin duties will be shared by allrounders Senuran Muthusamy and George Linde, while Dewald Brevis provides a part-time legspin option.

With regular skipper Aiden Markram unavailable, van der Dussen leads the side in what could be a make-or-break game for opener Reeza Hendricks, who is fighting for a spot ahead of South Africa’s upcoming tour to Australia. Hendricks is expected to open with Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who was earlier tried in the middle order.

Playing XIs:

South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Lhuan-dre Pretorius (wk), Rassie van der Dussen (capt), Rubin Hermann, Dewald Brevis, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy, Nandre Burger, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Zakary Foulkes, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy

With high stakes and balanced sides, the final promises to be a closely contested encounter.

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