Sophie Devine's all-round effort gives New Zealand 2-1 lead
Sophie Devine (Image Source: Getty/Hannah Peters)
Published - 20 Mar 2026, 08:30 AM• Read time - 6 mins
Match Overview
New Zealand Women and South Africa Women locked horns in the third T20I of the five-match series at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday, March 20. South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and elected to bat first.
New Zealand's opening bowlers provided them a superb start, sending back the Proteas openers in the first two overs itself. That brought the skipper and Annerie Dercksen to the crease who stabilised the innings and took the team to the end of the powerplay without any further loss and 39 runs on the board. Their flourishing 51-run partnership, however, was clipped by Sophie Devine two overs later with a smart leg-cutter.
Wolvaardt held one end up as she received little bit of support from Chloe Tryon and Nadine de Klerk. However, the scoring rate was not improving and that brought about the wickets of the trio in the third quarter. It seemed New Zealand would keep the visitors in the 130s, but newcomer Kayla Reyneke had other plans as the 20-year-old amassed 19 runs off the last over of the innings to take her team to 149/7 and ended up with a rapid 34* runs off 20 balls herself.
Chasing a middling target, the Kiwis started steadily but were pegged back whenever they began to up the run rate. Similar to what happened in the first innings, the opening bowlers accounted for the opening batters as New Zealand finished the powerplay at 42/2. The going for the home team immediately after was stable as skipper Amelia Kerr formed a promising stand with Devine. However, Nonkululeko Mlaba struck in the 10th over to send Kerr back with 85 runs needed off 65 balls.
Brooke Hailliday, who came in next, was out cheaply courtesy a run out as the match entered a tricky phase now. But Devine and Green combined to calm the nerves and gradually accumulated runs to keep the required rate under control.
In the last quarter, Devine turned on the aggression mode and stroked a few boundaries to bring the required rate down to near run-a-ball. The veteran Kiwi, in the process, reached her 22nd fifty and with immensely significant support from Green (34 off 25), took her team home with six wickets in hand and 10 balls remaining. The series now stands at 2-1 in favour of the Kiwis.
Top run-scorer of the match
|
Player |
Team |
Runs |
Balls |
Fours |
Sixes |
Strike Rate |
| Sophie Devine |
NZ-W |
55* |
38 |
6 |
1 |
144.73 |
Top wicket-taker of the match
|
Player |
Team |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wickets |
Economy |
| Suzie Bates |
NZ-W |
2 |
0 |
10 |
2 |
5.00 |
Player of the Match
Sophie Devine
The Kiwi all-rounder first contributed with the ball, picking up two crucial wickets of Dercksen and De Klerk. Notably, the former's wicket was a much-needed one in the context of the game. Devine then helped her team with the bat, scoring a match-winning unbeaten 55. It was her innings that hand-held the chase and made the difference in the end.
Turning Point
The unbroken 84-run 53-ball stand between Devine and Green played the most important role in the home team's victory. With New Zealand four down for 68 after 10 overs, the match was hanging in the balance. A wicket or two soon after could have left the chase in tatters. But the duo played sensible hands to bring their team a significant second win of the series with two more matches to go.
What the captains said
Winning Team Captain, Amelia Kerr (NZ-W)
"A win is always nice but Sophie was outstanding and then Green. Up top, Gaze's intent was awesome. It was a win led by our bowling attack. Always a bit of nerves in the chase but to get to 150 with eight balls to spare builds a lot of belief. In a run-chase like that, if you can do the work early, it helps. Important that she (Devine) stepped up and did the job today. These last three games, I have been extremely proud of the group. There is real belief. Loving how we are going about it. Energy on the field is something I am big on. Our bowling attack, it is well balanced. If the bat, if we can keep believing in our intent, that is what we want."
Losing Team Captain, Laura Wolvaardt (SA-W)
"Maybe a little short with the bat - did not have our best powerplay. Did well to recover. It was a total we thought we could defend, but really hard when Devine bats through. Tried to limit the boundaries as well as we could. Could have deployed the wide plan earlier. (On Reyneke) I don't think she has been dismissed yet and is striking at 160-180, which is pretty impressive. We train every day to hit the ball like she does, and hopefully she has a big future for us."
