Too easy for the Black Caps as Proteas search for solutions ahead of T20I Tri-Series final

All year, the Kiwis have had an upper hand over the Proteas in white-ball cricket, and on Tuesday, the Black Caps further extended their dominance over South Africa with a comfortable seven-wicket victory in Harare. 

Right from the start of the year, when South Africa travelled to Pakistan for a Tri-Series against the hosts and New Zealand in preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy, the Black Caps were dominant over the Proteas, beating them comfortably in the Tri-Series before going on to thrash them in the semi-final stage of the Champions Trophy. 

In Zimbabwe, a couple months after the Champions Trophy, New Zealand have beaten South Africa twice, securing a 21-run victory last week and a seven-wicket victory on Tuesday. 

Proteas opening batter Reeza Hendricks (41) and spinner Senuran Muthusamy (2/24) were the only players who pitched up on Tuesday from the South African camp. The rest of the players simply had an off day. 

From dropped catches on the field, soft dismissals with the bat and extras with ball in hand, the Proteas toiled as they were restricted to 134/8, a total that the Black Caps breezed past with 25 balls to spare. 

Reflecting on the defeat, Hendricks accepted that the side had a rather forgettable outing on Tuesday. 

"I think New Zealand bowled really well, but in saying that, the Powerplay is generally, according to what we've seen over the last couple of games as well, the hardest part," Hendricks said on Tuesday. 

"We just kept losing wickets, never formed any sort of partnerships to put us in a good position to put up a competitive total." 

Despite having top-scored for South Africa on Tuesday, Hendricks understands that had he managed to carry his bat, the outcome of the match could have been different. 

Hendricks emphasised that the side needs to do a serious introspection and come back sharper in Saturday's final against the same New Zealand outfit. 

"It's nice to contribute, but again, I would have loved to have done it a bit better, stayed there till the end, formed that partnership with George Linde (23 not out). It could have looked different, the outcome, there could have been an extra 20-30 runs on the board had I batted longer," said Hendricks. 

"But in saying that, (it was) nice to be out there and spend time and contribute. Hopefully Saturday we can put an all-round batting performance together. 

“I think obviously (we need) a better batting performance. We'll reflect and see how everybody went about the game today. We have a couple of days of practise and hopefully Saturday we come out a lot stronger. 

"We've played against them now already, so we know what they're bringing and they know what we're about as well. So, we just have to reflect on our own games and hopefully we can put up a better performance on Saturday." 

The Kiwis and hosts Zimbabwe have one further hit out on Thursday to conclude the league phase before the final, scheduled for the Harare Sport Club on Saturday.