Zim Tri-series: Bowlers, Seifert help New Zealand hand Proteas 7-wkt lesson ahead of final

Harare, July 22 New Zealand's bowling brigade of Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne and Jacob Duffy claimed two wickets each while Tim Seifert slammed an unbeaten half-century as the BlackCaps outplayed South Africa in the Zimbabwe T20I Tri-series match here on Tuesday.

Santner claimed 2-26, Milne bagged 2-21 while Jacob Duffy picked 2-33 as their superb efforts in their combined 12 overs helped New Zealand restrict South Africa to 134/8 in their 20 overs, thanks mainly to Reeza Hendricks, who scored 41 from 37 balls.

Seifert anchored the calm and comfortable run-chase with 66 not out from 48 balls as New Zealand stormed to 135/3 in 15.5 overs and romped to a seven-wicket victory in what was a dress rehearsal of the final between these two teams.

As the match result did not matter much for the two sides, who had already qualified for the T20 Tri-series final to be played on Saturday, the two sides had ample chances to experiment with playing XIs and the use of bowlers.

Though both teams used the opportunity, South Africa experimented with a spin-heavy bowling unit, but it did not quite come off and left them without enough fast-bowling resources to exploit the conditions.

Asked to bat first, South Africa landed in trouble soon as skipper Rassie van der Dussen (14) was bowled, making room to hit out at Adam Milne. From 13/1 it became 79/5 as Rubin Hermann (10), who was run out to a brilliant piece of fielding by Mark Chapman, Dewald Brevis (13), keeper Lhuan-dre Pretorius (1), who was pushed down to No.5 to strengthen the middle-order, and Andile Simelane (11) all fell cheaply.

Opener Reeza Hendricks continued to hold the fort at the other end, making 41 off 27 balls, hitting four boundaries and one six as he helped the Proteas cross into three figures with George Linde (23 not out). Reeza and Gerald Coetzee (0) fell on the same score as South Africa slumped to 109/7 with three more overs to go. They eventually ended up with a below-par score of 134/8 as Duffy, Milne, and Santner shared six wickets between them.

New Zealand's chase got off to a strong start, and they raised the best power-play score of 55/1 after losing Devon Conway (19) with the score reading 51. Though Rachin Ravindra (3) joined him in the dugout soon, Seifert kept the fire burning with a superb 48-ball 66.

Though Mark Chapman could contribute only 10 runs before he was out to make it 84/3, Seifert and Daryl Mitchell (20 not out) raised 51 runs for the unfinished fourth wicket stand to ensure New Zealand win the match with a lot left in the tank and go into Saturday's final in bullish mood.

Brief scores:

South Africa 134/8 in 20 overs (Reeza Hendricks 41; Mitchell Santner 2-26, Adam Milne 2-21, Jacob Duffy 2-33) lost to New Zealand 135 in 15.5 overs (Tim Seifert 66 not out; Senuran Muthusamy 2-24) by seven wickets.

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