South Africa's middle order experiment with Lhuan-dre Pretorius failed as they were thrased by New Zealand in the fifth match of the T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe today (July 22).
South Africa try out Lhuan-dre Pretorius in the middle order
South Africa came into the game having won both their matches against Zimbabwe and lost the previous one against New Zealand. Having lost the toss, they were put into bat. Instead of regular opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who had made his T20I debut in this tri-series, captain Rassie van der Dussen opened alongside Reeza Hendricks.
Van der Dussen wasn't able to make an impact as he was dismissed by Adam Milne for 14 off 13 in the third over. No.3 Rubin Hermann (10 off 12) and No.4 Dewald Brevis (13 off 13) failed to get going as well. Brevis' wicket in the 10th over brought Pretorius to the crease.
The 19-year-old left-handed prodigy had never batted outside the opening position in the 41 T20 games he had played before this one. After the match, the South Africa skipper would put the move down to experimenting with Pretorius' position to find out what more the youngster had to offer. "Experimental phase, looking at him in the middle," said van der Dussen.
"We know how cleanly he can hit the ball (at the top of the order). Unfortunately, he could not get going today (against the New Zealand spinners). Perfect game for that (to see how players fare in different roles)."
Peretorius' stay at the crease was a short one. He faced six deliveries, managing just one run and perishing to the bowling of Mitchell Santner in the 11th over. This was his third single-digit score in four matches so far, having scored a duck on debut, 27 in the second match, and four runs in the third.
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Geroge Linde (23 off 15) provided some late impetus to the innings, but it wasn't enough for South Africa to reach a par total as they finished at 134-8. Jacob Duffy (2-33), Milne (2-21), and Santner (2-26) shared six of those wickets while Will O'Rourke dismissed Brevis.
Match 5, New Zealand vs South Africa
vs
- Ball by ball Over
New Zealand storm through to tri-series final
In response, New Zealand made short work of the chase. Opener Tim Seifert remained unbeaten on 66 off 48 as contributions from Devon Conway (19 off 18), Mark Chapman (10 off 9) and Daryl Mitchell (20 off 15) helped them reach the target with seven wickets and 25 balls remaining. Senuran Muthusamy was South Africa's best bowler, picking up 2-24 from his four overs.
New Zealand will now meet Zimbabwe in the final group stage match of the series on July 24, before clashing with South Africa in the final on July 26.
Even if they lose against Zimbabwe, New Zealand will finish at the top of the points table, having already secured six points, two more than what second-placed South Africa have achieved.
pos
team
1
New Zealand
2
South Africa
3
Zimbabwe
MP
w
l
nrr
pts
Form Guide
3
3
0
+1.891
6
W
W
W
4
2
2
+0.012
4
L
W
L
W
3
0
3
-1.952
0
L
L
L
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