South Africa vs New Zealand, Preview | Proteas and Kiwis to battle for tri-series title in Harare

‌The Zimbabwe Tri-Series final 2025 is set to take place on Saturday, with the Proteas and the Black Caps battling for the title. Though these two teams are still considered one of the strongest teams in international cricket, it had been eight years since they both featured in a T20I series. It was a big challenge as both teams were missing some senior players going into the tournament. This seemed like a strategic decision made by the management to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be played in India and Sri Lanka next year.

New Zealand has been dominant throughout the tri-series and will be the favorites to continue their unbeaten four-game streak. Meanwhile, South Africa will not only be looking to give their best with the title on the line, but also look to avoid a third consecutive defeat against the Kiwis. Though the side under Rassie van der Dussen has shown a lot of promise and given some great performances in the series, they will be seeking redemption against the team against whom they have struggled during the tournament in the two games they have played.

Form Guide

The recent form of South Africa in T20Is has been a mixed bag so far, where in the last five games, they have suffered some disappointing results but have also managed to win a couple of games in convincing fashion.

New Zealand, on the other hand, is enjoying a five-game unbeaten streak in the format after their dominant run in the format. The Blackcaps are also on the verge of winning their third consecutive T20I series as well.

South Africa:  L W L W A

New Zealand:  W W W W W

South Africa vs New Zealand Head-to-Head in T20s

South Africa and New Zealand have competed against each other in 17 T20I games from 2005-2025, in which the Proteas still hold the lead in the head-to-head battles with 11 wins, while the Kiwis, despite their dominant run in the series, have only won six matches.

South Africa 11 -6 New Zealand

Pitch and Weather

Although the surface at the Harare Sports Club has been on the dry side, it has been an equal playing field for both batters and bowlers. The pacers have managed to get enough seam movement and uneven bounce with the new ball, and the spinners have been getting a bit of grip and turn on some occasions. However, conditions seemed to get easier to bat on with time. Though four out of the six games have been won by the team chasing in the tournament, where the bowlers have taken advantage of the conditions early on and restricted the batting team to modest totals, there have been two games where teams have failed to chase down once they cross above 150.

The expected temperature at Harare will be around 22 degrees Celsius tomorrow and the conditions are expected to clear with no sign of rain at the venue.

Team News

South Africa might make three changes within the lineup going into the final match, bringing back the likes of Corbin Bosch, Nandre Burger and Lungi Ngidi in place of Andile Simelane, Nqabayomzi Peter, and Kwena Maphaka.

New Zealand had made certain experiments within their lineup in the last game against Zimbabwe to test out certain options for the future. However, they will most likely bring back the experience of Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, and Jacob Duffy into the playing eleven in place of Tim Robinson, Bevon Jacobs, and Will O’Rourke.

South Africa  Probable XI: Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen (c), Rubin Hermann, Dewald Brevis, Lhuan-dre Pretorius (wk), George Linde, Senuran Muthusamy, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.

New Zealand  Probable XI: Devon Conway, Tim Seifert (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Zakary Foulkes, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy. 

Broadcasting Platforms

The Zimbabwe T20I tri-series final between South Africa and New Zealand will be digitally streamed on the official app and website of Fancode.