New Zealand convincingly outplay South Africa in 2nd T20I to level series

New Zealand celebrate the wicket of Morne van Wyk

New Zealand won the 2nd T20I against South Africa by 32 runs at Centurion to level the series 1-1. The two teams will now face off in a 3-match ODI series which starts on Wednesday, 19 August.

Martin Guptill (60 off 35 balls) and Kane Williamson (25 off 17 balls) got the visitors off to a roaring start, much like they had in the 1st T20I. Colin Munro (18 off 7 balls) finished the innings with some lusty blows – taking the Kiwis to the score of 177/7 after 20 overs.

Also like in the 1st T20I, South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada took wickets in consecutive deliveries in the 19th over, but could not finish a hat trick. He finished the match with figures of 3/30 from his 4 overs, the best display from among the Proteas bowlers.

The South African chase was a stuttering one in reply, with wickets falling at regular intervals. Rilee Rossouw (26 off 23 balls) and Farhaan Behardien (36 off 27 balls) tried to ramp up the scoring rate, but lost their wickets in the process. Once David Miller (29 off 20 balls) departed in the 18th over, the match was decided.

South Africa finished 32 runs behind the Kiwi score, at 145/8 after 20 overs.

Notably, Kiwi pacer Mitchell Mclenaghan clocked 153.8 kmph in the 4th over of the innings. However, it was the spin duo of Ish Sodhi and Nathan McCullum who provided most pain to the South Africans – McCullum also taking the prized scalp of AB de Villiers.