New Zealand ask South Africa to bat in third T20I; Bevon Jacobs comes back, Lutho Sipamla comes in

by @Editor March 20, 2026

written by @Editor March 20, 2026

Toss New Zealand chose to bowl vs South Africa

With the series locked at 1-1, New Zealand chose to chase in what is expected to be a high-scoring fixture against South Africa at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday.

The hosts made one change to the XI that won the second T20I in Hamilton and included Bevon Jacobs, who has recovered from a knee injury sustained in match one, in place of allrounder Josh Clarkson.

This will also be the last fixture of the series for Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson, who will all be rested for the remaining two matches.

South Africa also made one personnel change. They left out Ottneil Baartman for Lutho Sipamla, who will play his first match on the tour. With no reserve batters in the squad, they have stuck to the same line-up but swapped Tony de Zorzi and Connor Esterhuizen around. De Zorzi will open the batting with Wiaan Mulder, with Esterhuizen to come in at No. 3.

So far, de Zorzi, who was a first-choice pick for the T20 World Cup but missed the tournament owing to injury, has scores of 2 and 1 to his name.

New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Tom Latham (wk), 3 Tim Robinson, 4 Nick Kelly, 5 Bevon Jacobs, 6 Mitchell Santner (capt), 7 Jimmy Neesham, 8 Cole McConchie, 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Ben Sears, 11 Lockie Ferguson

South Africa: 1 Tony de Zorzi, 2 Wiaan Mulder, 3 Connor Esterhuizen (wk), 4 Rubin Hermann, 5 Jason Smith, 6 Dian Forrester, 7 George Linde, 8 Gerald Coetzee, 9 Keshav Maharaj (capt), 10 Nqobani Mokoena, 11 Lutho Sipamla

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New Zealand ask South Africa to bat in third T20I; Bevon Jacobs comes back, Lutho Sipamla comes in

NZ vs SA – 2nd T20I – Mulder in as SA bowl – Clarkson, Ferguson in for NZ

NZ-W vs SA-W 2025/26, NZ-W vs SA-W 3rd T20I Match Report, March 20, 2026

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