South Africa suffered a heavy 68-run defeat to New Zealand in the 2nd T20I in Hamilton on Tuesday.
Keshav Maharaj won the toss, and for the second time in as many games, New Zealand batted first.
Both teams had changes. The Proteas swapped out the injured Jordan Hermann for allrounder Wiaan Mulder, while allrounder Josh Clarkson and express pacer Lockie Ferguson came in for Bevon Jacobs and Zack Foulkes.
It was a moderate start for NZ, as Devon Conway found the boundary intermittently. But just when Tom Latham was hitting his straps, the SA captain had him reverse sweeping straight to short third man. Subsequently, the introduction of left-arm spin from both ends brought about another wicket.
Nick Kelly briefly impressed with a quick 21, but Wiaan Mulder had the last word with a slower delivery that foxed him all ends up. Interestingly, Blackcaps skipper Mitchell Santner arrived at No 5 today.
Following another handy cameo, SA kept the hosts’ momentum in check. Ottneil Baartman bowled Santner with a brilliant in-ducker, and NZ were staring down the barrel.
However, Conway had brought up a composed half-century, and did well to hold the innings together. After his departure in the 16th over, the lower order was exposed.
But the joy was short-lived for SA. It looked like 160 would be unreachable, but the momentum unraveled when Cole McConchie and Josh Clarkson smashed 24 runs off the final over from Maharaj. This drove the hosts to a more-than-competitive 175/6 at halftime.
The Proteas’ chase was tame.
They were bowled out for 107.
George Linde showed some resistance, scoring 33 off 12 balls (3 fours, 3 sixes), but he couldn’t save the Proteas from a comprehensive defeat.
