RSWS 2022, Match 4 Review: South Africa Legends register a clinical victory over New Zealand Legends

After losing their first match against India Legends by a big margin, South Africa Legends made a resounding comeback to their 2022 Road Safety World Series campaign against New Zealand Legends in their second group stage match played at Green Park, Kanpur on September 12 (Monday). 

Talking about the match, New Zealand Legends won the toss and opted to have a bat first. However, they had a poor start with the bat as they lost their first wicket in the very first over of the match after Anton Devcich was sent back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. 

His partner, Aaron Redmond followed the suit soon. However, the Kiwi side found themselves in a spot of bother as they lost their skipper Ross Taylor inside the field restrictions. None of the Kiwi batters except, Dean Brownlie managed to stay at the crease as the New Zealand Legends could not even cross the 100-run mark in their allotted 20 overs with Brownlie top scoring after amassing run-a-ball 48. For South Africa Legends, Johan Botha (four wickets) and Thandi Tshabalala (three wickets) were the most successful bowlers.  

Chasing just 100 runs to win, South Africa Legends cruise to victory

Chasing exactly 100 runs in their allotted 20 overs, the batting team started cautiously with openers Morne van Wyk and Andrew Puttick playing each ball at its merit. The left-arm spinner Bruce Martin managed to get the wicket Van Wyk right after the field restrictions. 

However, opener Puttick and Alviro Petersen took charge of the South African innings. In the end, the batting team chased down the total in 13.3 overs with Puttick remaining unbeaten on 51 runs and his partner Petersen scoring 29 runs off 23 balls. He also smashed one four and one maximum in his innings.

The only wicket-taker from the Kiwi side was Martin as the rest of the Kiwi bowling line-up looked fragile against the South African batting unit.