South Africa's Wiaan Mulder bats during the second Twenty20 international cricket match between New Zealand and South Africa played at Seddon Park in Hamilton on March 17, 2026. Picture: Michael Bradley / AFP
Image: Michael Bradley / AFP
This T20I series against hosts New Zealand is certainly about experimentation, and on that front South Africa have already succeeded - but there are still some decisions the Proteas management are making that are quite confusing.
Of course, the biggest was picking Ottniel Baartman for this series and not Kwena Maphaka as he played in ht eT20 World Cup instead. I firmly believe the Proteas got that one backwards.
But the latest eyebrow-raiser was on Tuesday when Wiaan Mulder was promoted to open the batting alongside Connor Esterhuizen in the 2nd T20I in Hamilton. SA would go on to by 68 runs.
Though Mulder got himself in, albeit slowly with a 20-ball 16 before he was dismissed, it was a move that just didn’t make sense.
Mulder can certainly bat, but with two other top-order batsmen in the squad, it didn’t seem like a good call. Tony de Zorzi would have been the best bet as he’s more accustomed to opening, and he did so in the previous match.
Though De Zorzi was out cheaply in the first match, it was one move worth persisting as he opened alongside Esterhuizen.
You can’t give a guy one match and then consider the plan finished, and bringing in the allrounder Mulder who is best suited in the middle order to open the innings if there’s a better option.
That’s not experimenting, that’s ignoring logic. De Zorzi is also left-handed, so you also immediately have a left-right combination as openers.
In fact, De Zorzi could also provide the perfect foil for the more attacking Esterhuizen.
Even Rubin Hermann and Jason Smith could be good options to open, but I believe De Zorzi should be first choice.
The only player it really doesn’t make sense to open with is Mulder.
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