By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
New Zealand defeated South Africa by three runs in the Twenty20 international tri-series final at Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe on Saturday.
Proteas were cruising on 92 without loss in the tenth over in pursuit of 181, but lost 4 for 39 from there on.
That left them needing 50 runs to win off the last 29 balls. A 43-run stand off 25 deliveries between Dewald Brevis and George Linde put South Africa on the brink, but both batters holed out in the final over as the pressure told, and New Zealand held out.
“We played a pretty good game. They (New Zealand) are a good and experienced team, and for the young guys to come this close, they will learn a lot from it,” said Proteas captain Rassie van der Dussen.
Fast bowler Matt Henry was named player of the match as well as player of the tournament after finishing as the leading wicket-taker with ten wickets.
“South Africa got off to a flier,” Henry said of South Africa’s opening stand of 92 between Lhuan-dre Pretorius (51) and Reeza Hendricks (37).
“It’s a credit to our team for staying in the fight, knowing wickets can change things.”
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner also praised the ability of his players to “hang in there” on what he said was the best pitch for batting of the tournament.
“Guys stepped up on different occasions throughout this tri-series,” said Santner.
“There were a lot of challenges with the ball today but the guys were ready and really clear on how they wanted to operate.”
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryll Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Zakary Foulkes, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy.
South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Rassie van der Dussen, Rubin Hermann, Dewald Brevis, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy, Nandre Burger, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi.
Meanwhile Tim David hit the fastest T20 International century by an Australian as they beat the West Indies to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in their five-match series.