South Africa secured a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the T20 World Cup at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Marco Jansen took four wickets to help restrict New Zealand to 175 for seven, while Aiden Markram's unbeaten 86 guided the Proteas to chase down the target. Lungi Ngidi continued his strong form with another wicket, reaching eight in the tournament.
The match on 14 February saw South Africa bowl first after winning the toss. New Zealand started strongly but collapsed to 58 for three, with Marco Jansen claiming the wickets of Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra, and Finn Allen. Keshav Maharaj took the fourth wicket, and Jansen returned to dismiss Mark Chapman for 48, breaking a 74-run partnership with Daryl Mitchell. Ngidi and Tristan Stubbs then removed Mitchell, limiting New Zealand to 175 for seven.
In reply, Quinton de Kock scored 20 before falling to Lockie Ferguson, becoming the first South African to reach 3,000 T20 international runs. Aiden Markram then anchored the innings with an unbeaten 86 from 44 balls, his second half-century of the tournament. Ryan Rickelton, David Brevis, and David Miller contributed 66 runs collectively to help South Africa reach 178 for three in 19.3 overs.
Jansen earned player of the match for his 4-40 figures, bringing his tournament tally to seven wickets, one behind Ngidi's eight from three matches. South Africa had previously beaten Canada by 57 runs and Afghanistan in a double Super Over thriller.
New Zealand entered the game after a five-wicket win over Afghanistan and a 10-wicket thrashing of the United Arab Emirates. Fast bowler Matt Henry described the fixture as a rivalry akin to the Springboks versus All Blacks in rugby. 'You always want to play the best sides, and we’ve grown up with the South Africa and New Zealand rivalry,' Henry said. 'So it’s always exciting to play South Africa… And nothing changes in a World Cup. They’re always going to be strong in all areas.'
