Connor Esterhuizen hit a career-best 75 off 33 balls to power South Africa to a 33-run win over New Zealand in the fifth T20I on Wednesday and a 3-2 win in the five-match series. Esterhizen’s second consecutive half-century, following his previous best of 57 in the fourth match on Sunday, saw South Africa bowled out at 187/4. New Zealand could only reply with 154/8.
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New Zealand vs South Africa 5th T20I: Update
Esterhuizen continued in the second half of South Africa’s innings after being taken to the crease in the 11th over with a total of 76-2. On Wednesday, he dropped a place in the order to bat behind Rubin Hermann, who hit 39 off 31 balls to increase the run rate after a slow start. South Africa were only 43-1 after the over and 76 at the halfway mark of their innings. The last 10 overs yielded 111 runs thanks to Esterhuizen and Dian Forrester, with whom he added 61 in just over four overs for the fourth wicket.
“I think it was nice to be able to come in and play with some freedom because of the nice platform from the guys up there with goals in hand,” Esterhuizen said. “At the beginning of the opening hours, they evaluated it and said 160 was competitive. The more me and (Forrester) were there, we said 170 was a good score and we got 187.”
Esterhuizen’s innings included five fours and six sixes. Bevon Jacobs, off the bowling of Zak Foulkes, dropped him for 49 and made New Zealand pay, stretching their innings into the final over. In total, South Africa’s innings featured 15 fours and 10 sixes along with 47 balls.
With wickets in hand, South Africa added 52 runs from the last five overs, including five sixes. New Zealand’s problems were compounded by poor catching, although Nick Kelly held a brilliant one-handed catch, the best of the series, to dismiss Hermann.
New Zealand’s run chase was also poorly executed and the home team found themselves overwhelmed by accurate bowling, well-supported fielding.
Gerald Coetzee played the ball quickly at both ends of the innings to claim 2/21 from four overs while Ottneil Baartman used the variation to claim 2/33. Spinner Prenelan Subrayen allowed just 22 runs from his four overs and captain Keshav Maharaj also tested the New Zealand batsmen.
New Zealand were 46/2 after the over and 65/3 after 10 overs when the required run rate was 12.3 per over. After 15 overs, New Zealand were 116/4 and the required run rate had crept up to 14.4. New Zealand ended up needing 47 from the last two overs.
Jacobs was the best of the New Zealand batsmen, scoring 36 off 19.
The match was the highest scoring in the entire series. New Zealand were bowled out for 91 in the first match, which South Africa won by seven wickets; South Africa were bowled out for 107 in the second match, which New Zealand won by 68 runs, and were held to 136/9 in the third match, which New Zealand won by eight wickets. South Africa restricted New Zealand to 145 in the fourth match which they won by 19 runs.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
25 March 2026 16:06 IST
