Kia ora! Goeie more! Good morning and evening. Welcome to CricketCountry’s live blog session of the one-off T20I between New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park, Auckland. I am Suvajit Mustafi and I will bring you the live updates from the much-promising clash. First of all, Happy Birthday, AB de Villiers! He turns 33 today and the Kiwi fans will hope he does not spoil their broth today. He has already announced that he has “some unfinished business” in New Zealand. That is again not good news if you are a Kiwi fan. But who does not enjoy an AB show? Full cricket scorecard: New Zealand vs South Africa, one-off T20I
The ‘unfinished business’ part AB has been referring to is the heartbreak at Eden Park that South Africa suffered two years back in the World Cup 2015 semi-final. Grant Elliott’s six off the penultimate ball brought the Proteas down to tears as New Zealand made an entry to their first World Cup final. Auckland went berserk that night and with the same sides back in the park, expect the same buzz.
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Faf du Plessis is back as South Africa’s T20I skipper. On paper, South Africa wear a formidable look but New Zealand have been exceptional at home this season. The Kane Williamson-led outfit has downed Pakistan, Bangladesh and more recently Australia to reclaim the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. While South Africa have the 10:4 win ratio against New Zealand to boast of in T20Is, New Zealand have the No. 1 ranking in this format.
With New Zealand looking to extend their golden run at home and South Africa wanting to avenge the World Cup setback, the clash between the biggies of southern hemisphere is one of the most anticipated ones of this year.
Squads:
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips (wk), Luke Ronchi (wk), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ben Wheeler.
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, JP Duminy, David Miller, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi.
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