New Zealand Women vs South Africa Women 5th T20I: Top 5 Players

A question for Christchurch from the series standings (3-1 to NZ) is; “What value can the 5th T20I provide in terms of a global T20 preparation opportunity for both teams?” To NZ fans, the focus has been on offering a continued strong performance as both teams have developed their planned chase method to assist their respective T20-led forms leading into the ODI World Cup.

NZ’s last two chases were back to back perfects in their final two T20 internationals (in contrast to the previous match which was a non-ideal run chase). As long as Sophie Devine’s (NZ) continued strong performances from the ‘last nine’ and Amelia Kerr’s excellent opener (NZ), the opening pair of Laura Wolvaardt (SA) and Devine should be the best starting point for each team (which placed Wolvaardt back on track for a strong series performance).

In addition to the strong chase method from both teams, there is one overarching theme; Phase cricket (Phase 1 = first four overs, Phase 2 = overs 5-10, etc.). Both teams are winning well with each innings phase, however, NZ has clearly shown that they have won at each T20 international venue due to superior overall performance in both innings.

As such, Friday’s (March 25) fifth T20 will be an important match for each team to investigate player match-ups. These five players are also the five best positioned players for making each side perform to their overall T20 expectations, and the tactical tempo, tactics, and final outcome of the match at Hagley Oval.

Top-Down/Bottom-Up

At its core, the pattern throughout the series can easily be defined as WINNING! For NZ, they have clearly been winning when both their senior all-rounders have had strong overall performances over both innings. SA has been winning when they get solid front-end starts and one solid middle-order (3/4) burst/exit from one of their top four players.

With that in mind, the upcoming series is no longer about trying to win a trophy; rather it is now about finding out what the respective final outcome of that match-up is going to be.Will South Africa manage to achieve a clean sweep before the one-day internationals or will they fall victim to yet another show of form from New Zealand’s stars with the total dominance they have already displayed?

1. Sophie Devine

Sophie heads this ranking for one simple reason: she can alter the outcome of matches from multiple angles. In the opening encounter she destroyed South Africa taking 4 for 12 and was hailed as her personal best by ICC as T20I performance. Ultimately, this early blow to South Africa determined the outcome of their match and paved the way for New Zealand to win the match by 80 runs.

Since then, Sophie has magnificently supplied with an amazing innings with a score of 50 in addition to taking two wickets in Auckland and following that with an extraordinary 64 runs off just 34 balls in Wellington whereby she ensured that New Zealand sealed the series with a match to spare. This is what bears strength to Sophie as a must-watch player in the NZ v SA 5th T20I game; if South Africa fail to bowl their yorkers to her or keep giving her hard length balls, she can annihilate the chase in ten deliveries; if the wicket grips a little and the ball is pitched off, she can still take wickets during the middle phase with her slower deliveries. For anyone who has viewed her in domestic cricket, you would already know that she does not require any degree of assistance from the pitch to dominate.

2. Amelia Kerr

Amelia Kerr has continued to showcase herself as New Zealand’s leading T20 cricketer in this tournament.Kerr produced her best innings at an international level with a knock of 78 runs from just 44 balls at Mount Maunganui. By putting on an incredible 146-run partnership with Georgia Plimmer, the pair effectively out of South Africa’s reach before the chase had even begun.

Once she finished batting, Kerr continued to have an impact on the game as she scored 32 with the bat and took two wickets in Hamilton, helping New Zealand in their defeat. After three 3 matches in the series, she sat atop of all series statistics with 140 runs and overall impact points.

Kerr is an incredibly difficult player to develop a game plan for because she can change a match & influence the path of the game without being overly loud and flashy. She can slow the game down if New Zealand lose a few early wickets, accelerate the scoring rate through square of the wicket shots, and then come back with her leg-spin bowling to pin down right-handers to try and ultimately get them into playing an over-aggressive shot.

For an Indian audience, her skill set can be easily understood as being a quality all-rounder that’s capable of executing quality spin-bowling and adding pressure through the boundaries.

3. Laura Wolvaardt

Wolvaardt is still the key to South Africa’s batting at the start, and she will be so again in Christchurch. With a No. 4 batting-place position in ICC Women’s T20I, her ability to create an early tempo continues to dictate how South African’s batting order will play, regardless of how the end score looks after coming off the series.

Wolvaardt’s 37 runs in Auckland on Wednesday night have given South Africa another example of what is possible for them moving into the last match of the series if they can get her to settle in at the crease and produceThe Proteas have scored totals of 177 in Hamilton, 149 in Auckland and 159 in Wellington but despite these runs being scored there is yet to be a top-order display with a comprehensive batting command performance and these innings being messy due to one long Wolvaardt’s innings not accompanying more batting experience at the head of the innings.

With Dane van Niekerk ruled out for the rest of the tour due to an injury to her right calf the South African’s have had to reshuffle the batting line up including calling up Anneke Bosch creating a need for the Proteas to adapt their batting strategy as well as how important Wolvaardt’s first 20 deliveries of the match are to their overall performance. If she is able to constructively negotiate through the New Zealand opening bowler’s first spell then South Africa’s batting middle order will be able to bat according to their terms as opposed to being dictated by New Zealand’s bowling performance.

4. Jess Kerr

Even though Jess Kerr is not being quite as publicised as her more illustrious counterparts Martin Guptill and Jennifer Kerr she has become one of the strongest bowling stories of the trip with the ICC announcing that following her opening match she jumped up 11 places to a career-high T20I bowling ranking of number 23 and she was able to back this up with a strong display in Wellington.

Kerr’s performance against South Africa in Wellington was match-winning as she recorded 3 wickets for only 16 runs; removed multiple destructive top order batsmen and prevented South Africa from creating any real big score on top of a good start.

What makes Kerr a very good selection for this match is her method of operation regarding how aggressive she is with her line which at times can be an easy ball to hit and then all of a sudden an impossible ball to hit for South African batsman has proven in the last 3 matches that they have produced innings that both in the form of wickets taken and runs scored have had substantial success as the New Zealand bowlers have constantly forced the South African batsman to question themselves and therefore allowed New Zealand to dominate throughout the powerplay.

Annerie Dercksen

Annerie Dercksen South Africa needs to find a player other than the headline trio who can make an aggressive impact on the score sheet; at this stage, Dercksen appears to be best candidate for that role. In Wellington, her 55* off 32 balls was the only cleanly-struck ball in the middle order from any player in this series – excluding Devine or Amelia Kerr – ,and she also took a wicket in the same match.

Her innings were about more than the runs; she provided South Africa with the necessary pace and followed through on balls delivered on good length early in the innings which then put New Zealand under pressure and forced them to bowl aggressively. In a team that has, far too frequently, assisted New Zealand with a reasonable opportunity for a successful run chase, this kind of finishing punch from Dercksen could disrupt their momentum.

As well, let’s not forget, Kayla Reyneke has also done well and is very close to joining this top five; however, Dercksen is on fire at this moment (and South Africa really needs that fire to stay lit) as we head towards the game in Christchurch – to have a shot at achieving a last word win on New Zealand soil.

What This Game Will Do Is Test

That test will be the South African batting through the first six overs.In the initial match, New Zealand was bowled out for 110, but turned their fortunes around with scores of 177, 149 & 159 in their last three matches as their batting order found better matches for supports to Wolvaardt (who throughout the series, has gone from strength to strength) and the middle order gained more punch in terms of boundary hitting ability than earlier in the series. A second test for New Zealand will be; can they continue turning medium targets in to low scoring chases as they have done in their last two T20Is, winning 6 wickets down, 8 balls left, and the previous T20I by 6 wickets down and 9 balls remaining/in the first case; indicates an established side that knows where to score runs and has total confidence in its most experienced players when having to chase down runs without losing the pressure of the asking run rate.

The Hagley Oval adds an extra layer of intrigue, having hosted women’s T20I matches; 3 wins and 1 loss for New Zealand over the past four matches, including their most dominant performance in 2022 against Bangladesh, and where Sri Lanka had a split result in March 2025 will add a layer of both confidence and history to the outcome of the match; providing an opportunity for both sides to re-establish themselves either positively or negatively prior to this T20I.

Therefore, the last T20I between NZ Women and SA Women is still are a good watch, despite the series being decided. Devine and Amelia are the main supplies of control for the NZ side whilst Wolvaardt will continue to be SA’s source of control, Jess Kerr is a player that can take the top order apart, and Dercksen presents a player with enough power to shift the last overs score from good to lethal.

Conclusion

New Zealand head to Hagley Oval with much cleaner momentum, and have played down the key moments of the series; providing enough evidence in T20 cricket that they have got enough players that have made their contribution to be able to win another match.

SA still have sufficient quality to win this match with Wolvaardt needing to get through the power play and one of either Dercksen or Reyneke needs to produce a major performance in the middle order to see a SA victory.

NZ fans in India, look out for Devine in the first half of the match whether batting or bowling and for Amelia Kerr in the second half of match, that is where this T20I will earn its teeth.