Williamson's New Zealand beat South Africa by 32 runs in the 2nd T20I

Williamson’s New Zealand beat South Africa by 32 runs in the 2nd T20I: New Zealand beat South Africa by 32 runs in the second T20I match at Centurion in an almost one-sided manner. Batting first, New Zealand scored a challenging total of 177-7 after 20 overs. The Kiwi openers Martin Guptill and K. Williamson gave a solid start to the team as they added quick 52 in just 5.3 overs.

The right handed Guptill played a blitzkrieg knock of 60 off just 35 balls with 6 boundaries and 3 sixes at a strike rate of around 171. He was at his best today and hitting shots at his ease. The Proteas bowlers couldn’t tame him under any manner. His dismissal came at the 12th over when Behardien got him catch out at the hands of Miller. But Kiwis already reached a commanding score on board, 104 with 9-overs remaining and 7 wickets left.

Jimmy Neesham also played well in the end when the team needed it the most. He scored a flying 28 off 19 balls with 3 fours and a six at a strike rate of 147. The Protease bowling looked very ordinary – apart from Rabada’s 3 for 30 rest of the bowlers didn’t trouble the Kiwis to that extent. However, Kiwis lost the golden opportunity to cross 200 as they managed just 73 runs in the remaining 56 balls after the fall of Guptill’s wicket.

It seemed a small total in front of the strong Protea middle order but frequent fall of wickets handed an easy victory to the visitors. The advantage of home crowd didn’t work this time, as the host lost top 4 wickets even when the team’s score didn’t reach three-figure-mark. Amla (14), MN Van Wyk (3), AB de Villiers (15) and Rossouw (26) were cheaply dismissed to put pressure on South African middle order.

Though F. Bahardien managed to show some resistance as he finished being the top scorer for his team, but that was far from enough. He scored a fluent 36 off 27 balls with 3 fours and a six. But, Nathan McCullum cut short his knock on the last ball of 15th over to bring Proteas score to 112 for 5. With 65 runs to win in the next 5 overs at 13 runs per over, the chase almost became impossible. Miller’s dismissal brought the entire stadium to standstill as all hopes shattered.

The dashing left-handed Miller scored 29 off 20 with 2 boundaries and a six before he became the second victim of McClenaghan. Eventually, South Africa finished off at 145-8 after 20 overs. Though, Kiwi bowlers were little expensive but they took wickets at frequent intervals to keep the target out of Proteas’ hands.

Brief Scores:

New Zealand – 177/7 20 overs (Guptil 60, Neesham 28; Rabada 3/30) won by 32 runs.

South Africa – 145/8 20 overs (Behardien 36, Miller 29; McClenaghan 2/28)