Sophie Devine stars again as New Zealand seal T20I series

On Sunday, March 22, New Zealand secured yet another six-wicket victory at the Sky Stadium in Wellington, taking an unassailable 3-1 lead over South Africa in the five-match series. Sophie Devine scored her second consecutive century. Chasing a target of 160, the hosts overhauled the total with nine balls to spare. After the visitors had chosen to bat earlier in the day, Annerie Dercksen led South Africa's charge with the bat with an unbeaten 55 from 30 balls. South Africa got off to a more solid start thanks to Sune Luus and Chloe Tryon at the top, but in the ninth over, Sune Luus was stumped by Amelia Kerr. However, the visitors were left reeling at 58 for 3 after Laura Wolvaardt fell in the following over. After that, Dercksen, along with Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, and Kayla Reyneke, ensured that South Africa's scoring rate increased in the second half of the innings and led the revival of the innings. Dercksen launched Amelia over the deep middle of the wicket and hit a few more boundaries in the 17th over, where South Africa scored 17 runs, accounting for much of this surge. Rosemary Mair and Suzie Bates were also hurt by Dercksen's late attack, which cost South Africa a competitive 159 for 6. Despite losing Isabella Gaze early, New Zealand were in no trouble during the chase as a result. Amelia Kerr and Georgia Plimmer and Devine shared 46-run stands for the second and third wickets, respectively, to give the chase the much-needed backbone it needed. Devine made sure to build well from there and pressed the accelerator immediately. In the 15th over, she defeated Masabata Klaas for 18 runs and hit a boundary through backward square leg off Nonkululeko Mlaba for her half-century. From that point on, New Zealand had a good chance of winning, and the hosts were able to cross the target with nine balls left even after Devine left in the 18th over.