AFTER a two-Test series against South Africa, where they were blown away quite emphatically, Zimbabwe host South Africa and New Zealand in the T20I tri-series, starting today. T20I tri/quadrangular series don’t come around too often.
The last one involving at least one Full Member was in 2022 when New Zealand hosted Pakistan and Bangladesh. Zimbabwe will face South Africa in the first game of this series today, while South Africa will then face New Zealand on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe will take on New Zealand two days later. All the matches are scheduled to take place at Harare Sports Club. Each team will face the other twice before the top two contest the final on July 26. Here are a few points to ponder for the three teams ahead of the series.
After three back-to-back Test defeats, Zimbabwe will be glad to return to the comforts of T20I cricket. This is a format where they have been competitive in recent times. It’s also tremendous preparation ahead of the Africa Qualifiers in September-October 2025 with 2026 T20 World Cup spots on the line.
In T20Is, they’re coming off a 1-0 win against Ireland (two of the games were washed out) and won a T20I against Afghanistan and Pakistan in December last year.
Zimbabwe will be buoyed with the return of fast bowler Richard Ngarava, who missed the two Tests against South Africa due to a lower back injury but has recovered. Top-order batter Brian Bennett, who has been Zimbabwe’s best batter in recent times, has also been cleared for the T20I series after being subbed out of the second Test against South Africa due to concussion.
Zimbabwe have a good mix of fast bowlers and spinners, but it’s their batting that needs to step up. Bennett will lead the show up top while Sikandar Raza, the captain, provides stability in the middle. But the likes of Clive Madande, Dion Myers and Ryan Burl will need to score some runs to get Zimbabwe a move on.
Meanwhile, South Africa are yet to play a T20I this year and will be without a lot of their firstchoice players – all rested. It’s been a strange time for South Africa in the T20I circuit since the highs and heartbreaks of the T20 World Cup 2024. Soon after losing to India in the final, they were blanked 3-0 by West Indies, drew 1-1 against Ireland and lost to India 3-1 at home.
They did win a home T20I series against Pakistan in December last year and with the next T20 World Cup not far away, will look to quickly get back into the scheme of things. But they will have to do without regular captain Aiden Markram, and a host of other first-choice players. Despite that, this is a side packed with plenty of talent.
Rassie van der Dussen will lead the side, which has Lhuandré Pretorius up top. The left-hander was the top scorer in SA20 2025 and scored a Test century on debut against Zimbabwe recently. Nandre Burger and Gerald Coetzee are also making a return to the national side after being sidelined due to injuries. They will spearhead the attack alongside Kwena Maphaka. The likes of Dewald Brevis, George Linde, Nqabayomzi Peter and Rubin Hermann have all been in decent domestic form recently and will want to leave a mark.
It will also be interesting to see how the New Zealand players fare on their return to international cricket after more than two months away in the winter playing various leagues. New Zealand last played an international game on April 5 at home against Pakistan, while their last T20I was on March 26 against the same opponent.
They have decent T20I form under their belt, though, having won seven of their last ten matches in the format.
This will also be Rob Walter’s first stint as New Zealand’s head coach across formats. Walter was, as recently as April 2025, South Africa’s whiteball coach, where he enjoyed plenty of success but resigned two years into his four-year contract to further his career in his adopted home in New Zealand. — cricinfo