New Zealand beat South Africa by 50 runs to qualify for the Champions Trophy finals. The Kiwis had batted first and scored 362 runs on the board thanks to twin centuries by Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson. Late flourish from Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell who scored 49 each meant that the Kiwis could pull off an easy win.
The last few months have been terrific for the New Zealand cricket team. Mitchell Santner and his side had beaten India in India. They had also won the tri-series before Champions Trophy with Pakistan and South Africa as the other two sides. With their batters and bowlers in form and being called as one of the best fielding sides in the tournament, New Zealand played flawless cricket against the Proteas.
New Zealand spin bowling
The Kiwis had Michael Bracewell and Mitchell Santner as their top two spin bowlers. The duo bowled 20 overs and gave away 96 runs and picked four wickets. Bracewell had one wicket while Santner had three. Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips bowled eight overs between them and picked three wickets. In comparison, South Africa just had Maharaj bowling ten overs and Aiden Markram bowling four overs and both ended up wicketless. This was one of the key reasons why the Kiwis won the game as the spinners ran riot in the middle to end overs.
Strong middle order
Tom Latham had a rare off-day with the bat scoring just four runs. Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips took just 37 and 27 balls each to score their 49 runs. The duo added 57 runs for the fifth wicket in just 30 balls. The Kiwis who at one point looked like getting a score around 280-300 suddenly found themselves looking at a score past 350. It was a key moment in the game as both Phillips and Mitchell took the game away from the South African bowlers in the most crucial stage of the game.
Form of Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson
One of the most amazing aspects of New Zealand cricket in recent times is the batting of Rachin Ravindra. The young batter smashed the South African pacers to all parts of the stadium and ensured his team maintained a healthy run-rate. Not to be outdone even Williamson was batting with a strike rate of over 100 as he slammed each and every proteas bowler. Both batters scored a ton to show their class and put the fear into the opposition bowlers and didn’t look like getting out at one stage of the game.
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