After nearly a decade, Zimbabwe faced New Zealand in T20Is — but couldn’t offer much of a contest.
Despite a solid start from their openers, Zimbabwe quickly lost their way. New Zealand’s disciplined bowling kept them to a modest total before Devon Conway’s explosive fifty powered the Kiwis to a comfortable win.
On Friday, in the tri-nation T20 series, New Zealand cruised to an 8-wicket victory. Chasing 122 in Harare, Mitchell Santner’s side reached the target with 37 balls to spare.
This was the first T20I meeting between New Zealand and Zimbabwe in almost ten years, and with this win, the Kiwis maintained a perfect record — seven wins from seven games in this format against Zimbabwe.
With victories in their opening two matches, New Zealand took a big step toward the final. For Zimbabwe, back-to-back defeats have left their hopes of reaching the final hanging by a thread.
Devon Conway, who was named Player of the Match, remained unbeaten on 59 off 40 balls, hitting 4 fours and 2 sixes.
After losing the toss and being sent to bat, Zimbabwe made a steady start, reaching 36 without loss in the first five overs. Their opening stand of 37 runs ended in the final over of the powerplay when Brian Bennett fell for 21 off 20 balls.
But Zimbabwe couldn’t build any partnerships after that. Fellow opener Wesley Madhevere top-scored with 36 off 32 balls, but no other batter made a meaningful contribution. Captain Sikandar Raza, who had scored a fifty in the previous match, managed just 12 runs off 18 balls this time.
Matt Henry was New Zealand’s standout bowler, claiming 3 wickets for 26 runs. With this performance, he reached 200 wickets in combined domestic and international T20s.
In reply, New Zealand lost Tim Seifert in the second over, and things could have been worse. Blessing Muzarabani dropped a simple catch off Devon Conway in the very first over.
Conway made the most of his reprieve, bringing up his fifty off 34 balls. Batting at number three, Rachin Ravindra chipped in with a quick 30 off 19 balls, while Conway and Daryl Mitchell (26 off 19*) comfortably saw their team over the line.
Brief Scores
- Zimbabwe – 120/7 in 20 overs (Madhevere 36, Bennett 21, Henry 4-0-26-3, Ravindra 3-0-10-1)
- New Zealand – 122/2 in 13.5 overs (Conway 59*, Ravindra 30, Mitchell 26*)
Result: New Zealand won by 8 wickets
Player of the Match: Devon Conway
