Ahmedabad, February 14 South Africa relied on the batting and bowling performances of captain Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen to defeat New Zealand by seven wickets and virtually qualify for the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup here on Saturday.
Jansen recorded career-best figures of 4/40 as South Africa restricted New Zealand to 175 for 7 after opting to bowl in the crucial match.
Mark Chapman narrowly missed his personal milestone when he was dismissed for 48 off Jansen's bowling in the 14th over, but none of the other New Zealand batsmen could build on their starts.
Finn Allen (31) and Daryl Mitchell (32) also scored runs for the Blackcaps, but they were unable to build enough momentum to reach a big total.
In pursuit, Markram scored an unbeaten 86 off 44 balls, which equaled his career-best T20I score, and Quinton de Kock scored 20 off 14 as the pair shared 62 runs off 28 balls for the opening stand, while Ryan Rickelton scored 21 off 11 balls.
Dewald Brevis (21 off 17) also made a useful contribution before the Markram and David Miller (24 not out off 17) duo closed out the match, reaching 178 for 3 in 17.1 overs.
Brief Scores:
New Zealand: 175 for 7 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 31, Daryl Mitchell 32, Mark Chapman 48; Marco Jansen 4/40).
South Africa: 178 for 3 in 17.1 overs (Aiden Markram 86 not out, David Miller 24 not out; Rachin Ravindra 1/9).
