South Africa defeated New Zealand in the fifth and final T20 International to clinch the five-match series 3-2 at Hagley Oval on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
After winning the toss, New Zealand opted to field first, inviting South Africa to bat. The visitors posted a competitive total of 187 for four in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to a blistering innings by Connor Straussen, who scored 75 runs off just 33 balls.<\/p>\n
Rubin Hermann contributed 39 runs, while Wiaan Mulder added 31. For New Zealand, Ben Sears claimed two wickets, while Zak Foulkes and Josh Clarkson picked up one each.<\/p>\n
In reply, New Zealand could only manage 154 for eight in their 20 overs. Bevon Jacobs top-scored with 36, followed by Tim Robinson with 25 and captain James Neesham, who made 24.<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s bowling attack was led by Gerald Coetzee, Wiaan Mulder and Ottneil Baartman, who took two wickets each, while Keshav Maharaj chipped in with one wicket.<\/p>\n
With this victory, South Africa sealed the series 3-2 after a closely contested five-match contest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africa defeated New Zealand in the fifth and final T20 International to clinch the five-match series 3-2 at Hagley Oval on Wednesday. After winning the toss, New Zealand opted to field first, inviting South Africa to bat. The visitors posted a competitive total of 187 for four in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":73098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,136],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[213],"class_list":{"0":"post-73097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest","8":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n