New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner praised South Africa’s bowling after the visitors secured a seven-wicket victory in the first match of the five-match T20I series at Bay Oval on Sunday.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Santner said that although New Zealand won the toss and started well, the pitch offered more assistance to the bowlers than anticipated, especially during the early stages of the innings. He acknowledged South Africa’s effective bowling, which applied early pressure and resulted in New Zealand losing four wickets during the powerplay.
“It was a good start winning the toss. I think there was probably a little bit more in the pitch than we expected, especially up front. South Africa bowled really well and put us under pressure early. Losing wickets in the powerplay always makes it tough from there. I guess it was one of those situations where, if you identify that the pitch is doing a little bit early, maybe you need to have a bit of a look. But again, they bowled well. Being four down in the powerplay is always a challenge. Even if we could have scrapped to 120 or 130, it might have created a few more challenges for them in the second innings,” Santner said.
Santner also commented on the team’s inability to adapt quickly to the conditions and noted that losing early wickets made recovery difficult. He suggested that scoring 120 to 130 runs might have made the target more challenging for South Africa.
Looking ahead to the next match in Hamilton, Santner said the team would reflect on their batting performance and move on swiftly, expecting different pitch conditions. He added that the series would help both teams better understand each other’s players and strategies.
“It’s one of those games where you reflect on the little moments, but with a quick turnaround you have to move on pretty quickly. We pride ourselves on adapting, and I think we didn’t do that quickly enough today. That’s something we will look at. Hamilton will be a different wicket with different dimensions, so you’ve got to learn on the fly a bit. We will reflect on the batting innings and then move forward from there. I think every game you play helps you understand the opposition a bit more. When you have a five-game series, you do have that luxury. You obviously don’t want to start slowly like we did today, but each game helps you understand the players and what things might look like going forward,” he added.
In the match, New Zealand were bowled out for 91 runs in 14.3 overs. None of the batters reached 30 runs, with all-rounder James Neesham top-scoring on 26 off 21 balls, including two fours and one six. Mitchell Santner contributed 15 runs off 19 balls with two fours, while Cole McConchie and Bevon Jacobs scored 15 and 10 respectively.
South Africa’s bowling was led by debutant Nqobani Mokoena, who took three wickets for 26 runs. Gerald Coetzee claimed two wickets for 14 runs, Ottneil Baartman took two for 22, and captain Keshav Maharaj also took two wickets, conceding 25 runs.
Chasing 92 runs, South Africa’s wicketkeeper-batter Connor Esterhuizen remained unbeaten on 45 off 48 balls, hitting two fours and two sixes. The Proteas reached the target in 16.4 overs, securing a comprehensive seven-wicket victory with four matches remaining in the series.