New Zealand Take 2-1 Series Lead: Ferguson Destroys South Africa at Eden Park
New Zealand took a 2-1 lead in the T20I series with a dominant 8-wicket win at Eden Park, Auckland on Friday, 20 March. South Africa were restricted to 136/9 and New Zealand reached the target with 22 balls to spare.
South Africa Innings – 136/9
South Africa were in trouble from ball one. Lockie Ferguson was superb – 1/9 from 4 overs at an economy of just 2.25, the best bowling figures of the match. Mitchell Santner removed Connor Esterhuizen and Jason Smith in quick succession. South Africa never gained momentum and stumbled to 136/9 despite late contributions from Nqobani Mokoena (26 not out off 20) and George Linde (23 off 19).
New Zealand Chase – 137/2
Devon Conway and Tom Latham (63 not out off 55) put on 96 for the first wicket, taking the game away from South Africa by the halfway stage. New Zealand lost Conway and Tim Robinson within two balls of each other in the 17th over, but Latham shepherded the side home comfortably in the 17th over.
Statz Ratings
Lockie Ferguson (90.0) dominated the Statz Ratings leaderboard with a near-perfect bowling display. Conway (56.3) and Latham (53.8) were the top batting performers for the home side.
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lockie Ferguson | New Zealand | 90.0 |
| 2 | Devon Conway | New Zealand | 56.3 |
| 3 | Tom Latham | New Zealand | 53.8 |
| 4 | Ben Sears | New Zealand | 44.9 |
| 5 | Gerald Coetzee | South Africa | 43.6 |
Statz Ratings powered by Statz Cricket – combining batting impact, bowling effectiveness, and contextual factors on a 0-100 scale.
