Wellington, March 22 (IANS) Wicketkeeper batter Connor Esterhuizen’s half-century, followed by a combined bowling effort from Gerald Coetzee, Ottneil Baartman, Prenelan Subrayen, and Keshav Maharaj, helped South Africa register 19- run win against New Zealand in the fourth T20I of the five-match series played at the Sky Stadium on Sunday.

Batting first, South Africa posted 164/5 on the scoreboard from 20 overs, with Esterhuizen leading the charge with the bat. In reply, New Zealand got bowled out for just 145 in 18.5 overs. With this win, South Africa have levelled the series 2-2, and the decider will be played on March 25 at Hagley Oval.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, South Africa had a poor start as Mulder got out on just the second ball. However, Esterhuizen and Tony De Zorzi built a strong partnership of 81 runs, putting the team in a good position. Esterhuizen reached his fifty in 33 balls during the 10th over.

New Zealand, led by Jimmy Neesham, fought back by taking quick wickets. Esterhuizen was dismissed for 57, while De Zorzi got out after scoring 23 off 21 balls.

Rubin Hermann remained not out on 28, while Jason Smith and Dian Forrester added 19 runs each, helping South Africa reach a competitive total. For New Zealand, Kyle Jamieson took two wickets, while Zakary Foulkes, Ben Sears, and Cole McConchie picked up one wicket each.

Chasing the target, New Zealand had a tough start and could not recover. Tim Robinson was the top scorer with 32, and Dane Cleaver made 26, but the rest of the batters failed to contribute much.

At 76/2 in 8.2 overs, New Zealand were still in the game, but the dismissal of Cleaver led to a collapse. They lost eight wickets for just 69 runs and were eventually all out for 145 in 18.5 overs.

Gerald Coetzee led the bowling with three wickets, while Baartman, Subrayen, and Maharaj took two wickets each.

Brief Scores:

South Africa 164/5 in 20 overs (Connor Esterhuizen 57, Rubin Hermann 28*; Kyle Jamieson 2-29, Cole McConchie 1-26) beat New Zealand 145/10 in 18.5 overs (Tim Robinson 32, Dane Cleaver 26; Gerald Coetzee 3-31, Prenelan Subrayen 2-13) by 19 runs

–IANS

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