New Zealand vs South Africa, T20Is: Presenting the statistical preview
What's the story
New Zealand will host South Africa for a five-match T20I series, starting March 15. This comes after New Zealand's heartbreaking defeat in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final against India. South Africa reached the semis of the event, where they were knocked out by none other than South Africa. Here we look at the statistical preview of the upcoming series.
Schedule
A look at the schedule for all five games
1st T20I - Bay Oval, Tauranga, March 15. 2nd T20I - Seddon Park, Hamilton, March 17. 3rd T20I - Eden Park, Auckland, March 20. 4th T20I - Hnry Stadium, Wellington, March 22. 5th T20I - Hagley Oval, Christchurch, March 25.
H2H
South Africa lead the head-to-head record
Coming to the head-to-head record between these two teams, the two sides have clashed in 20 T20Is, with South Africa winning 12. The remaining eight games have gone in NZ's favor. The semis of the recent T20 WC saw NZ beat SA for the first time across six meetings in the tournament. At home, New Zealand have won just one of their four T20Is against the African team.
Information
NZ's squad for the series:
New Zealand T20I squad for South Africa series: Mitchell Santner (c) (1-3), Katene Clarke (4-5), Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver (wk) (4-5), Devon Conway (wk) (1-3), Lockie Ferguson (2-3), Zak Foulkes, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Tom Latham (wk) (c) 4-5), Jayden Lennox (4-5), Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi.
Information
SA's squad for the series:
South Africa squad for T20I series vs New Zealand: Keshav Maharaj (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Connor Esterhuizen, Dian Forrester, Jordan Hermann, Rubin Hermann, George Linde, Nqobani Mokoena, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla, Prenelan Subrayen, and Jason Smith.
Key players
Stats of key players in the series
Santner has scalped 65 T20I wickets at home at a fine economy rate of 7.59. Devon Conway has an impressive average of 46.04 in home T20Is. He has over 1,000 runs in this regard. Keshav Maharaj has returned with 18 wickets in away T20Is at a fine economy of 7.56. With 20 scalps at 13.55, Ottneil Baartman finished the 2025-26 SA20 as the highest wicket-taker.
Milestones
Here are the approaching milestones
Maharaj is two scalps away from completing 50 T20I wickets. He is also one short of completing 50 caps in the format. Tony de Zorzi is closing in on 1,500 runs in T20 cricket. He requires 113 runs to get the milestone. Conway requires just two big hits to complete 50 sixes in T20Is. Lockie Ferguson needs nine wickets in the series to complete 250 T20 wickets.