NZ vs SA Match Prediction 2025 5th T20I: Match Preview, Pitch Report and Who will win Today’s Match?

NZ vs SA Match Preview

New Zealand and South Africa will collide for the final time in the group phase before the all important final match. Both the teams have been in good form with 2 wins each but South Africa have played 3 matches that includes a defeat vs New Zealand previously.

Both the teams are coming off the back of a strong victory against Zimbabwe in their respective previous match.

New Zealand made easy work of the hosts Zimbabwe in the 3rd T20I match. The Kiwis got the hosts restricted for 120 runs with Matt Henry taking 3 wickets. 

Later, Devon Conway scored a half-century while Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell scored 30 and 26 runs respectively to help New Zealand to a 8 wickets win.

South Africa also made light work of the Zimbabwe cricket team in their previous match as they won by 7 wickets. Corbin Bosch led the attack with the ball for South Africa as he took 2 wickets that helped South Africa restrict Zimbabwe to just 144 runs. 

Later, South Africa chased the target in 17.2 overs with captain Rassie van der Dussen and Rubin Hermann scoring a half- century each as South Africa won the match by 7 wickets.

NZ vs SA Recent Form

Both the teams maintain a great form before coming into this match. In their last 5 matches, New Zealand and South Africa have both won four matches and a loss respectively. New Zealand has won both the matches of the series while South Africa has won 2 matches and the only defeat in their last five matches came against New Zealand earlier in the series.

NZ vs SA Head-to-Head in T20Is

Both New Zealand and South Africa have played against each other a total of 16 times in T20 International cricket. Out of which, South Africa have been the most dominant side with 11 wins in the rivalry while New Zealand have won 5 times. The Kiwis though won the most recent T20I between the two teams.

Harare Sports Club, Harare Pitch Report

The pitch at Harare Sports Club is pretty flat. With the ground still damp, the new ball might give the fast bowlers some extra bounce and pace early on. Later on, especially in the middle overs, the spinners should start to turn it a bit. Most of the time, if you win the toss, starting off with the ball is smart because this match could end up being pretty high scoring. When you get to bat in the second innings, the pitch tends to be in excellent condition for hitting. So, going after the target might be the way to go.

NZ vs SA Predicted Playing XI

New Zealand: Tim Seifert, Devon Conway, Tim Robinson, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, James Neesham, Bevon Jacobs, Mitchell Santner (C), Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry.

South Africa: Lhuan-dre-Pretorius, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen (C), Rubin Hermann, Dewald Brevis, Corbin Bosch, George Linde, Andile Simelane, Nqaba Peter, Lungi Ngidi, Nandre Burger.

New Zealand vs South Africa Key Players

New Zealand Top Batter: Rachin Ravindra

New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra could play a big role in this match for the Kiwis. The left-hand batter was in good form in Major League Cricket with 263 runs. He made his first appearance vs Zimbabwe and scored quickfire 30 runs.

New Zealand Top Bowler: Matt Henry

New Zealand’s right-arm pacer Matt Henry has been the best bowler in this series. The 33-year-old took 3 wickets in both the matches to accumulate a total of 6 wickets in the series. He picked 3 wickets for 34 runs vs South Africa in the last match.

South Africa Top Batter: Rubin Hermann

South Africa’s wicketkeeper batter Rubin Hermann has been doing excellent in the ongoing Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series 2025. He has scored 109 runs including 63 runs knock vs Zimbabwe in the last match.

South Africa Top Bowler: Lungi Ngidi 

South Africa have had several bowlers step-up for them in this series. Lungi Ngidi is the most experienced bowler in the set-up and he has taken 3 wickets so far in the tournament. Against New Zealand’s batting, he will have to play an influential role.

NZ vs SA Today Match Prediction

The New Zealand vs South Africa match is going to be a great match between the two teams. It will give us the taste of what to expect from the two teams in the final match later this week.

Both New Zealand and South Africa have been the two best teams in the series with 2 wins each for both the teams, except that South Africa have played 3 matches while New Zealand played 2 and won their previous match vs South Africa in this series.

Both the teams have been doing excellent in the series so far. When comparing the two teams, both the sides have been fairly identical in the series so far. Both teams are packed with a great and powerful batting line-up. 

However, the Kiwis have the advantage in this battle as the Blackcaps bowlers seem to be doing much better than the Proteas bowlers in this series. So back New Zealand to win the match.