New Zealand and South Africa’s cricket rivalry has given fans some unforgettable matches over time, from Grant Elliott’s six in 2015 to Kane Williamson’s in-form century.
From thrilling sixes by Grant Elliott and Kane Williamson to nail-biting finishes like Grant Elliott’s last-over heroics years later, fans have witnessed spectacular cricketers with exceptional skills on display, all perfectly reflected in the New Zealand National Cricket Team Vs South Africa National Cricket Team Match Scorecard.
Walter has seen his side struggle, so they need an impressive showing from him to get them back on track.
| Match No. | Date | Venue | Format | New Zealand Score | South Africa Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 2024 | Wellington | T20I | 176/5 | 168/8 | New Zealand won by 8 runs |
| 2 | Oct 2024 | Auckland | T20I | 189/4 | 172/9 | New Zealand won by 17 runs |
| 3 | Feb 2024 | Pune | T20I (WC) | 158/7 | 151/8 | New Zealand won by 7 runs |
| 4 | Nov 2023 | Ahmedabad | ODI (WC SF) | 281/4 | 272 | New Zealand won by 9 runs |
| 5 | Aug 2023 | Centurion | T20I | 167/6 | 170/4 | South Africa won by 6 wickets |
ICC T20 World Cup 2026
The International Cricket Council Twenty20 World Cup 2026 will mark its 10th edition, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka and featuring matches in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Kandy. Twenty teams will compete across 55 matches to determine who emerges victorious.
India will begin the 2026 T20 World Cup on February 7 and conclude it on March 8. India are the defending champions, having defeated South Africa by seven runs in the final of 2026’s T20 World Cup competition. South Africa are looking to go one better this time round – having never previously won one!
At the group stage, each team will play each other once, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for Super Eight play-offs and then moving onto semi-finals, where winners of those rounds will face-off in a final showdown.
The final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will take place at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, while Colombo and Kandy will also serve as tournament hosts.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on April 4, that India has been assigned to Group D alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan and UAE; England will compete in Group E alongside Pakistan and Canada. Pakistan and Canada qualified through the ICC World T20 Qualifier while Italy, Netherlands and Namibia all earned spots through ICC Europe/Africa/Asia Qualifier.
Bangladesh were runners-up at the 2024 T20 World Cup and have been ordered to travel to India for group matches. An online meeting between ICC and BCB took place to address this matter; Bangladesh were informed they must travel there or face forfeiting points.
New Zealand vs South Africa Match Predictions
New Zealand are well-known to be formidable opponents against South Africa in ODIs and are eager to defeat them in the final match.
South Africa have struggled in ICC knockout matches so far – losing all three semi-final matches they have competed in thus far – but New Zealand are an experienced squad who could prove difficult opponents on any given day, especially when competing for supremacy in an ultimate decider matchup.
On October 6, South Africa and India met at Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium. While generally good for batting, at times it did keep low. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, South Africa found it hard to post a competitive total despite some early wickets falling their way.
However, New Zealand was able to build an effective second wicket partnership under Matthew Breetzke and Jason Smith’s bats, producing a significant 93-run stand before Temba Bavuma and Sinalo Jafta struck with their wickets – but Kane Williamson made sure the Black Caps reached an competitive total through an outstanding innings with 48 off just 16 balls!
Early this week, New Zealand Women had defeated Australia Women by an emphatic 89 runs at Guwahati Stadium. New Zealand looked composed throughout, taking full advantage of batting-friendly conditions with Nat Sciver-Brunt scoring an unbeaten century while Devon Conway and Sophie Devine achieved half-centuries respectively.
After their defeat at Eden Park last weekend, South Africa is in need of some much-needed healing time before facing New Zealand again on Saturday morning at Sky Stadium in Wellington. The Springboks hope that Saturday morning’s match against All Blacks may provide them with that chance.
Rassie Erasmus has made significant changes to his side for this clash, with Cobus Reinach replacing Grant Williams at scrumhalf and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu taking over Handre Pollard at flyhalf from Handre Pollard. This match could prove pivotal as both teams look to clinch the Freedom Cup – making for an exhilarating spectacle as New Zealand are unbeaten at Eden Park since 1994!
New Zealand vs South Africa Match Results
South Africa came back from an early deficit to defeat New Zealand and retain the Freedom Cup, beating them 43-10 and handing New Zealand its greatest defeat ever.
Leroy Carter scored their first try, converted by Damian McKenzie, while Cheslin Kolbe scored for South Africa two minutes into the second half before Kwagga Smith, Damian Willemse, RG Snyman, Andre Esterhuizen all added further tries for their side – all in succession from Manie Libbok’s powerful second half performance which included five conversions and penalties as Manie Libbok kicked five conversions plus penalties from Manie’s arsenal to defeat New Zealanders completely and win their Freedom Cup title.
South Africa needed a strong performance to advance to the semi-finals after dropping three of their previous four matches, so they started off well against Namibia before succumbing to middle order collapse and top order pressure with multiple batsmen succumbing to wickets quickly.
Matthew Breetzke and Jason Smith shared an invaluable 93-run partnership at second wicket but this eventually faded as their form began waning further into their innings; and their top order also suffered with batsmen succumbing early in their innings.
Eathan Bosch, Temba Bavuma and Matthew Kleinveldt all made their T20I debut for South Africa during this game, including Eathan Bosch himself, Temba Bavuma and Matthew Kleinveldt – debutants who struggled against New Zealand’s fast bowling – like David Miller who was caught at short third man for six balls to fall. Subsequently AB de Villiers and Kyle Abbott fell cheaply leaving South Africa reeling at 25-0.
Jacob Duffy claimed the first wicket for South Africa in the eighth over, when his off-arm delivery caught out batsman Nathan Reardon napping. Duffy claimed another three wickets in the final over, but this wasn’t enough to prevent them collapsing to an embarrassing defeat.
This loss also gave South Africa an embarrassing record in ICC T20 tournament semi-finals: nine losses out of one victory! To bounce back against India would require stronger squad performance; otherwise defeat could spell Hunt’s departure as coach. He has only won one out of eight T20I series so far; so this will give them another opportunity to show what can be accomplished with full strength!
New Zealand vs South Africa Match Schedule
New Zealand will attempt to complete their comeback against South Africa since 2017 when they meet again at Wellington this Saturday night in T20 Internationals, holding an 11-6 advantage overall in terms of T20I matches played between them. Both sides now boast new coaches this season – Shukri Conrad replaced Rob Walter as South Africa’s white-ball coach before leaving to become Australia’s white-ball coach.
The Kiwis have already won both matches against South Africa in this tournament, and look to add one more win against them on Saturday in the final. As top-ranked T20 team worldwide, but struggling to find consistency with their batting. Still, they have scored the most runs during this competition and hope to continue that streak into Saturday’s matchup.
South Africa must improve on their bowling, especially without Dale Steyn and Aiden Markram due to injuries. They lack an effective wicket-taking option and must find ways of dealing with extra bounce in their pitch – which Jacob Duffy can help achieve by creating difficulty for batsmen to grip.
Duffy contributed three wickets against Zimbabwe, two with snorters that kept the scoreboard moving along for Australia. If either Jamieson or Ferguson is unavailable, he could potentially come into the starting XI and help keep run rates high with his pace.
