The White Ferns have finally had a chance to go toe-to-toe with South Africa in a T20 and made the most of it, pulling off their highest-ever chase in the shortest format to win this morning.
After three abandoned fixtures in the five-match series due to rain, the White Ferns took the fourth T20 this morning in Benoni by eight wickets.
The Kiwis were largely led by the partnership of Melie Kerr and Sophie Devine as they tacked on 135 runs - a record total for the third-wicket in New Zealand women's T20s.
Kerr finished with an unbeaten 70 from 46 deliveries while Devine was just as destructive finishing 61 not out from 37 balls.
The pair managed to get the White Ferns home with seven balls to spare as they reached 174/2 to surpass South Africa's 172/4.
South Africa started well thanks in part to quick outfield to start the day - an issue Devine conceded saw the White Ferns let through at least an extra 20 runs in the first innings.
Jess Kerr was the White Ferns' best bowler with 2-41 from her four overs of work while Molly Penfold picked up a wicket for 15 runs from three overs of play.
Things were looking dicey for the visitors when their chase fell to 39/2 in the powerplay but then Kerr and Devine turned on the fireworks.
A highlight of the innings saw Devine launch three maximums in three successive deliveries in the 17th over, well and truly giving New Zealand a comfortable road to succeeding in their chase.
“I think that’s the blueprint for how we want to be playing T20 cricket, chasing down a score like that,” Devine said.
“It was really quite calm, Meli’s a pretty chilled person, and we certainly felt in control. We had targets throughout that innings of what we wanted to hit, and with five overs left we wanted to have about 50 left to chase, and I think we were bang on with that.
“So the way she controlled her innings and the tempo she had throughout it made my job really easy, being able to hit to different areas of the ground was really beneficial.”
The teams square off in the fifth and final match of the series at the same venue tomorrow.
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