Sophie Devine struck her second consecutive half-century as New Zealand registered another six-wicket win at Sky Stadium in Wellington on Sunday (March 22), sealing an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series against South Africa.
Chasing 160, the hosts completed the task with nine balls remaining to wrap up the contest comfortably.
Earlier, Annerie Dercksen led South Africa’s batting effort, with an unbeaten 55 from just 30 deliveries after the visitors chose to bat first. Sune Luus, opening alongside Chloe Tryon this time, helped the side to a steadier start before she was stumped by Amelia Kerr in the ninth over. Laura Wolvaardt’s dismissal in the following over left South Africa struggling at 58 for 3.
Dercksen then guided a recovery, combining with Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk and Kayla Reyneke to accelerate the scoring rate during the latter stages of the innings. The momentum largely came in the final four overs, highlighted by Dercksen’s powerful strike over deep midwicket off Amelia and successive boundaries in a 17th over that yielded 17 runs. Suzie Bates and Rosemary Mair also felt the impact of her late assault as South Africa posted a competitive total of 159 for 6.
New Zealand’s chase remained largely controlled despite the early loss of Isabella Gaze. Amelia Kerr provided stability with two partnerships of 46 runs, first with Georgia Plimmer for the second wicket and then with Devine for the third.
Devine then took charge of the chase, quickly increasing the tempo. She struck Masabata Klaas for 18 runs in the 15th over and later brought up her half-century with a boundary off Nonkululeko Mlaba through backward square leg. From that point, victory appeared inevitable for the home side. Even though Devine was dismissed in the 18th over, New Zealand crossed the target with nine balls still to spare.
Brief Scores:
South Africa 159/6 in 20 overs (Annerie Dercksen 55*, Sune Luus 30; Jess Kerr 3-16, Sophie Devine 1-27) lost to New Zealand 160/4 in 18.3 overs (Sophie Devine 64*, Amelia Kerr 31; Chloe Tryon 2-13) by six wickets
