The Black Caps Return to Africa for the First Time in A Decade: Previewing the New Zealand vs South Africa vs Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series
90s kids rejoice, tri-series cricket is back, baby!
90s kids rejoice, tri-series cricket is back, baby!
Note: This is a cross-post in collaboration with Kiwi Cricket Kōrero. I will be writing posts like this for them going forward. You can (and should!) subscribe to them here:
That’s right, the Black Caps will kick off their tri-series (which actually kicked off with South Africa’s five-wicket, 25-ball victory over Zimbabwe on Monday night) tonight against South Africa in Harare. It will be the first time the Black Caps have faced South Africa in T20 cricket since the one-off match in Auckland on February 17, 2017—3,071 days ago! That was Glenn Phillips' T20I debut, opening the batting and scoring a 5 (11) that belied his immense talent. It is even longer since we last faced Zimbabwe in the format, with that most recently occurring on August 09, 2015, in Harare—3,629 days ago! George Worker top-scored with the bat that day, while Mitchell McCleneghan and Nathan McCullum led the way with the ball.
Rant alert (skip the next four paragraphs if you just want the tri-series preview), but given the long, storied rugby union rivalry between the two sides, which has lately kicked into overdrive following the Springboks' immense recent success and the high-intensity, controversial 2023 Rugby World Cup Final, it strikes me as a massive failure of marketing and lateral thinking by NZC and CSA that this contest isn’t an equally big deal in cricket, and, in fact, is an afterthought and an oddity. Not only have the Black Caps not played the Proteas in T20 cricket since 2017, they also haven’t played each other in a bilateral ODI series since that same tour in Feb/March 2017, where South Africa narrowly won an enthralling series 3-2, and we all remember what happened the last time the two sides met in Test cricket. Worse still, we’ve not played international cricket of any variety in South Africa since the second Test against the Proteas at Centurion in August 2016, 3,263 days ago. It has been a long, thirsty time between drinks.
You’re seriously telling me that with a South African coach, a long lineage of South African-born players (Conway, Watling, Phillips, Jacobs, et al.), the in-built All Blacks vs Springboks rugby rivalry to play with, and both teams being recent or reigning World Test Champions, NZC and CSA couldn’t transform this into a massive, money-spinning fixture at a time when non-Big Three boards are trying to find ways to attract crowds and build rivalries and marquee series? Hell, copy the Boks and ABs directly and bring back full tours with domestic mid-week fixtures, promote the everloving hell out of it with images of Grant Elliott and Dale Steyn in the 2015 CWC semi-final, great moments from the Boks/ABs rivalry, and sprinklings of the history of the fixture, including explanations of why the teams play for the Tangiwai Shield and Bob Blair’s utter heroics (if you’re not already familiar, this video by Jarrod Kimber from Good Areas is a must-watch).
Do you reckon the average Kiwi cricket fan knows that history, and that the two teams play for a shield commemorating the 1953 Tangiwai rail disaster, when 151 people died on a train from Wellington to Auckland on Christmas Eve, including Nerissa Love, the fiancée of New Zealand opening bowler Bob Blair? I’m not convinced they do, but I am convinced the NZ cricketing public would be passionately fired up about honouring Blair and his heroics/bravery/stupidity (depending on where you sit) that day against the dastardly South Africans. Despite initially, understandably pulling out of the following day’s play, after hearing on the radio that New Zealand were in danger of following on, Blair still came out to bat the following day at number 11, joining Bert Sutcliffe. According to Wikipedia:
“The pair added 33 runs for the last wicket in 10 minutes, with Sutcliffe hitting Hugh Tayfield for three sixes and Blair hitting one in a single eight-ball over.”
Adding to the legend of the story, there’s also this tidbit, via Stuff:
“[Blair] joined Sutcliffe at the crease with the legendary batsman sporting a massive bandage around his head following a brutal blow from [South African bowler Neil] Adcock. He retired hurt earlier in the day but sunk a strong whisky and returned to the crease.”
I won’t give you all of my ideas for free, but rest assured, if anyone from the marketing department at New Zealand Cricket is reading, I’m very much available and have more where these came from! I understand that the New Zealand and South African summers overlap and both teams are reluctant to cede that ground, but come on, guys, there’s gotta be a compromise here somewhere.
Anyway, onto the actual preview. After such a long absence from African shores and playing African sides in the format fullstop, viewers in New Zealand will be able to watch the entire series on ThreeNow, while Australian-based viewers, like myself, can go suck eggs apparently and fiddle around with VPNs and livestreams at 9 PM tonight. As an aside, if you know of a way to legally watch this series in Australia, please get in touch or share it in the comments.
We’ll cross the bridge of how I’m going to watch these games when the time comes (if things get really desperate, I have my ways), and focus for now on previewing the series. I’ve already previewed the squad itself here when it was announced, so this article will focus less on the granular details and more on the bigger picture. Although I will add that since that squad was first announced, Finn Allen was ruled out, and Devon Conway, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Hay, and Tim Robinson were all called up.
I don’t have too much to say about these call-ups, aside from the fact I’m glad I was correct that Devon Conway’s omission from the initial squad doesn’t necessarily spell the end for his international prospects, while I’m also thrilled to see Mitchell Hay called up after questioning his initial omission, and I’m always generally pleased to see Jimmy Neesham, no matter the circumstances. Finally, I can’t be the only one who pictures Tim Robinson from I Think You Should Leave fame whenever I see Tim Robinson, the New Zealand cricketer, mentioned, right?
Anyway, let’s zone out and look at the bigger picture of this series. With the Champions Trophy firmly in the rearview mirror and another runners-up finish secured, attention now turns to the next T20I World Cup on the never-ending white ball trophy carousel. I’m not breaking any new ground by pointing out that a fourth T20 World Cup in six years, with an ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy thrown in for good measure in the off years, risks utter overkill, but that’s a subject for another article. As long as the Black Caps are playing, I’ll still be watching—something I’m sure the organisers count on when they pack the schedule to within an inch of its life. This upcoming edition will be held in February and March 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. The draw hasn’t been released yet, but no prizes for guessing where Pakistan will play their games, or which nation will host the final.
Credit where it’s due, the NZC administrators have clearly learned from the disaster of the previous T20 World Cup, where the team was caught badly underprepared and crashed out meekly in the group stage, packing in a veritable smorgasbord of T20I cricket between now and that event. I don’t know how the Black Caps will go at the 2026 T20 World Cup (though, playing in Asia, I don’t love our chances), but they certainly won’t have the excuse of being underprepared, with the upcoming T20I schedule reading as follows:
Depending on whether we reach the final of this T20 tri-series, and something has gone seriously wrong if we can’t make the final of a three-team series that also features Zimbabwe, the Black Caps are scheduled to play either 23 or 24 T20Is in the lead up to the 2026 World Cup. Only the West Indies will have more reps under their belt between now and the World Cup, with the other major teams scheduled to play the following number of games between now and then, according to the FTP:
Given this, don’t be shocked if England underperform again with a relatively light T20 schedule heading into the next tournament. On the flipside, New Zealand face a packed schedule, playing all of the other top six-ranked T20I sides between now and next February. We’ve smartly scheduled five T20Is in India and three more away against Afghanistan (presumably to be played in India) immediately before the tournament, so, as mentioned, there should be no excuses for not being well-acclimated to the conditions.
Realistically, it’s difficult to see too much short-term change in the T20 side between now and the tournament kicking off, though it will be interesting to follow how Rob Walter puts his unique stamp on the side. The crux of the side should remain fairly predictable, with the following players being nailed-on, walk-up starters if fit in my opinion:
Finn Allen
X
Kane Williamson
X
Glenn Phillips
X
Michael Bracewell
Mitchell Santner (c)
Matt Henry
X
X
Reassuringly, all of these players have IPL experience, and in some cases, fairly extensive experience. Whether or not Kane is still one of our six best T20 batters is a separate debate (in Asia, probably still yes; at home, probably not), but his selection is all but assured.
The final two spots in the bowling attack are merely a question of availability. If Trent Boult wants to make himself available for one last white ball swansong, then he’ll still slot right in following his best IPL season since 2020, where he took 22 wickets at 23.5, striking at 15.7, as would Lockie Ferguson, if he’s ever fully fit again. I’m sure if coach Rob Walter got all of his wishes, he’d want to go into this World Cup with the following first-choice bowling attack: Boult, Henry, Ferguson, Santner, and Bracewell, with Phillips and Ravindra offering part-time options. If not, take your pick between O’Rourke, Jamieson, Sears, Duffy, Milne, Foulkes, and maybe even Nathan Smith. In an ideal world, one of the seam bowlers (Henry/Duffy), one of the tall bowlers (O’Rourke/Jamieson), and one of the express pace bowlers (Ferguson/Sears/Milne) is probably a nice balance.
Zak Foulkes is also broadly in the mix and is part of this squad, although, unless there’s a spate of injuries, I think he’ll have a more challenging time breaking into the squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. At 23, he’s certainly one to watch for the following cycle. Sodhi is another in the general conversation, and could well make the World Cup squad if the selectors believe they need three front-line spinners (Santner, Bracewell, and Sodhi) given the conditions. Adi Ashok, a notable omission from this squad, would be his main competitor for that spot.
On the batting side of things, I think we face some ‘nice’ selection dilemmas. Who slots into the remaining three top six positions out of the following players: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Tim Seifert, Tim Robinson, Bevon Jacobs, Jimmy Neesham, and Mitchell Hay? I think you could make a strong case for all of these players, based on either form, potential, past exploits, or incumbency. I would be rather surprised if Ravindra and Mitchell don’t claim two of those spots, leaving an almighty battle between Conway, Chapman, Seifert, Robinson, Hay, and even Neesham for that final spot. Currently, given his wicket-keeping and outstanding form in 2025, where he has averaged 62.25 and struck at 207.5 from five international appearances, Tim Seifert would have to have the inside running. The wildcard, of course, is the potential debutant Bevon Jacobs. If he lives up to the billing of his massive potential, IPL contract with Mumbai, and 148.42 career T20 strike rate so far, it could throw the cat amongst the pigeons in the batting order.
As such, I believe that currently, this is the XI the selectors would like to take into the 2026 World Cup if everything goes perfectly to plan, with squad backups in brackets:
Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (WK), Kane Williamson (Devon Conway), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell (Mark Chapman), Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Matt Henry (Jacob Duffy), Lockie Ferguson (Will O’Rourke), Trent Boult (Kyle Jamieson).
It’ll probably be a 15-man squad, so I’ve included one bowler too many here, but that will almost certainly take care of itself with either injury or general unavailability.
With several of these players, namely Williamson, Allen, Jamieson, Ferguson, and Boult skipping this series for various reasons, there’s plenty on the line for the more fringe options in this squad, like Duffy (it’s immensely harsh to call the number one ranked T20I bowler in the world a fringe option, but alas), Foulkes, Jacobs, Milne, O’Rourke, Hay, Neesham, Robinson, and Sodhi.
I expect we’ll see significant rotation throughout this series to test out potential combinations and give everyone a run, so it’s difficult to predict an XI. Instead, I’ll give a rough ‘squad shape’, with players who perform similar roles slashed:
Rachin Ravindra/Tim Robinson (I’m interested whether they see Ravindra’s long-term T20 future as opening or in the middle order. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was used in both roles throughout this series as an experiment.)
Tim Seifert (wk)
Mark Chapman/Devon Conway (wk)
Glenn Phillips/Bevon Jacobs
Daryl Mitchell
Jimmy Neesham/Mitchell Hay (wk)
Mitchell Santner [c]
Michael Bracewell (I won’t be shocked if they use Bracewell in the top six occasionally, too)/Ish Sodhi
Matt Henry
Will O’Rourke/Adam Milne
Jacob Duff/Zak Foulkes
What Are the Opposition Up To?
Squads
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (capt), Devon Conway, Mitchell Hay, Bevon Jacobs, Tim Robinson, Tim Seifert, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Zakary Foulkes, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Will O’Rourke, Ish Sodhi.
South Africa: Rassie van der Dussen (capt), Reeza Hendricks, Rubin Hermann, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, George Linde, Senuran Muthusamy, Andile Simelane, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi, Nqabayomzi Peter.
Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Wessly Madhevere, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Ryan Burl, Clive Madande (wk), Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Trevor Gwandu, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Tinotenda Maposa, Newman Nyamhuri, Vincent Masekesa.
South Africa is using this series as an opportunity to rest several stars like Rabada and Jansen and instead blood some new faces. They have selected five players, or 35% of their 14-man squad, who are 23 or younger: Peter (23), Maphaka (19), Brevis (22), Pretorius (19), and Simelane (22).
It is a similar story for Zimbabwe, which has selected four such players: Bennett (21), Myers (23), Nyamhuri (19), and Maposa (21).
For New Zealand, Jacobs, O’Rourke, Foulkes, and Robinson (not in the initial squad), all 23, fulfil this criterion. Accordingly, on paper, New Zealand have brought the strongest and most settled squad to this tournament, and should be expected to perform commensurately. Depending on exactly how much they want to experiment, it would be a disappointing outcome not to win this tri-series.
New Zealand and New Zealand A Tour of Africa Schedule
T20 TRI-SERIES: BLACKCAPS, ZIMBABWE, AND SOUTH AFRICA
16 July, Harare, 11 PM NZT: New Zealand v South Africa
18 July, Harare, 11 PM NZT: New Zealand v Zimbabwe
22 July. Harare, 11 PM NZT: New Zealand v South Africa
24 July, Harare, 11 PM NZT: New Zealand v Zimbabwe
26 July, Harare, 11 PM NZT: Q1 v Q2 Final
TEST SERIES: BLACKCAPS vs ZIMBABWE
30 July-3 August, Bulawayo, 8 PM NZT: First Test
7-11 August, Bulawayo, 8 PM NZT, Bulawayo: Second Test
NEW ZEALAND A TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA
UNOFFICIAL ODIS:
30 August, Pretoria, 8 PM NZT: New Zealand A vs South Africa A
01 September, Pretoria, 8 PM NZT: New Zealand A vs South Africa A
03 September, Pretoria, 8 PM NZT: New Zealand A vs South Africa A
UNOFFICIAL TESTS:
7-10 September, Potchefstroom, 8 PM NZT: First Unofficial Test
14-17 September, Pretoria, 8 PM NZT: Second Unofficial Test
Thanks for reading! Like my work? I also write about rugby at The Third Five Eighth. You should subscribe to that, too:
A lot of effort and research goes into pieces like these, so please consider supporting me via a paid subscription or Buy Me A Coffee. For more info on how your support helps me produce this work and what your contributions go towards, see my About Page!
Like my work, but not that much? Fair enough! If you still want to support me, the best thing you can do is share this article far and wide: whether that’s with friends and family, teammates at your local club, on Reddit, or in your obscure cricketing discord server, I cannot emphasise enough how helpful word of mouth is.
Just keen to continue reading about cricket? No worries! If you liked this article, I think you might also enjoy:
FYI, ICCtv.com is apparently streaming the match live for those Kiwis living in Oz. And damn Konstas for dropped catches and the fielding error that enabled the Windies to sneak past 26!
I saw the schedule and was also thinking about the tri-series but had no recollection of this big break between the two teams. Absolutely nuts!