South Africa Win 1st T20I in New Zealand: Coetzee Stars at Bay Oval
South Africa got their T20I series in New Zealand off to a winning start at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on Sunday, 15 March, bowling the hosts out for just 91 and then knocking off the target with 20 balls to spare.
New Zealand Innings – 91 All Out
New Zealand’s top order caved dramatically. Devon Conway fell for 1, Tom Latham for 7, and the hosts were 21/4 inside 4 overs. Gerald Coetzee ripped through the top order with 2/14 from 3 overs. Nqobani Mokoena finished with 3/26 and Ottneil Baartman chipped in with 2/22. Only James Neesham (26 off 21) and Mitchell Santner (15 off 19) offered any resistance as New Zealand were dismissed for 91 in 14.3 overs.
South Africa Chase – 93/3
South Africa got the job done comfortably despite losing three wickets. Connor Esterhuizen (45 not out off 48) and Dian Forrester (16 not out) saw them to the target in the 17th over. Santner bowled impressively in defeat – 1/8 from 4 overs at an economy of 2 – but South Africa never looked like losing.
Statz Ratings
Santner (78.6) topped the Statz Rating leaderboard despite being on the losing side – a measure of his bowling economy and what little he could do with the bat. Coetzee (60.6) and Esterhuizen (47.0) were the standout performers for the visitors.
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitchell Santner | New Zealand | 78.6 |
| 2 | Gerald Coetzee | South Africa | 60.6 |
| 3 | Connor Esterhuizen | South Africa | 47.0 |
| 4 | James Neesham | New Zealand | 34.2 |
| 5 | Ottneil Baartman | South Africa | 32.4 |
Statz Ratings powered by Statz Cricket – combining batting impact, bowling effectiveness, and contextual factors on a 0-100 scale.
