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In the second match of the T20 International (T20I) tri-series between New Zealand and South Africa, the former’s top-order batter Tim Robinson looked in brilliant touch with his bat. Losing the toss, New Zealand were put to bat first and openers Tim Seifert (22 off 16) and Devon Conway (nine off seven) fell within the first powerplay. The Kiwi batting-unit lacked discipline as Daryll Mitchell, Mitchell Hay, and James Neesham accumulated the figures of five, two, and zero respectively. However, Robinson, along with Bevon Jacobs, built a 103-run stand off 63 deliveries for the sixth wicket and helped the Black Caps post a total of 173/5 in 20 overs.
Robinson notched up an unbeaten 75 off 57 and his knock was studded with nine boundaries (six fours and three maximums). Jacobs also played a decent innings of an unbeaten 44 off 30. He scored four boundaries (one four and three sixes) in his innings.
Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy ally with each other to bundle out South Africa
In the second innings, South Africa got a fine start from their openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Reeza Hendricks. Both batters added 34 runs together for the first wicket in just 20 balls. Matt Henry got the better of Pretorius and delivered the first breakthrough to the Kiwis. After Pretorius' scalp, the Protea side lost wickets in regular intervals and saw themselves struggling at a score of 62/5.
Dewald Brevis and George Linde displayed fighting spirit and produced the knocks of 35 (18) and 30 (20) apiece. Gerald Coetzee also played a 17-run innings off 16 balls and South Africa diminished their margin of defeat as the Proteas got folded on 152 in 18.2 overs. Henry and Duffy got three wickets respectively while Ish Sodhi also hunted two batters in his four-over spell. Following the game, Robinson became the recipient of the Player of the Match (POTM) award for his stunning batting display.
