Ahmedabad, February 15 – New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner blamed the loss of three crucial wickets during the Power-play while batting first, and their inability to take more than one wicket with the ball in the first six overs under eased conditions, as the reasons for their defeat to South Africa in a crucial Group D match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Asked to bat first, New Zealand lost Tim Seifert (13), Finn Allen (31), and Rachin Ravindra (13) as they ended the Power-play with a score of 58/3. They were 64/4 in the seventh over, and although they recovered thanks to a 74-run partnership between Mark Chapman (48) and Daryl Mitchell (32), they lost three quick wickets again, finishing with a modest total of 175/7 in 20 overs. At one point, they looked like they would surpass 200, but Marco Jansen's impressive 4-40 haul helped South Africa fight back.
"Wickets in the Power-play are always crucial. Perhaps a bit below par (today), but the conditions were also a bit tricky. Different grounds, so you need to adapt. We pride ourselves on that. Communication is key between batsmen and bowlers," said Santner after their seven-wicket defeat.
Santner said his team was put under pressure by the South African bowlers, and they tried to find ways out of that with aggressive batting and taking wickets. However, this did not prove enough as Aiden Markram hammered an unbeaten 86 off 44 balls to help the Proteas to a comfortable win.
"We were put under pressure in the powerplay, so finding ways to get out of overs, while still staying aggressive and taking wickets. We had a good series against India. Any time you can play India in these conditions (leading up to a World Cup), it is good preparation. Came up against a good team tonight," said the spin-bowling all-rounder.
New Zealand will now be playing a smaller team like Canada, which they rarely encounter in ICC events, in their next match. Santner said they will do a lot of video scouting to know more about their opponents.
"That is a challenge. We have played with and against them (South Africa) a lot. We will do a lot of video scouting about Canada. There are no easy games in the tournament, and we know that will be the case in a couple of days' time," said Santner.
New Zealand have to win that match, their last in Group D, to inch closer to securing a spot in the Super 8 stage.
