New Zealand T20 Tri-Series In Zimbabwe Debrief
Aotearoa are Zimbabwe tri-series champions after defeating South Africa in the final, winning all five games of the tri-series and taking their record since the last T20 World Cup to 12-3. Kane Williamson, Trent Boult and Tim Southee haven't played a T20 for Blackcaps since the last T20 World Cup where they missed the semi-finals, while New Zealand’sT20I record sharpens to 9-2 this year.
Tri-series results
vs South Africa: won by 21 runs
vs Zimbabwe: won by 8 wickets
vs South Africa: won by 7 wickets
vs Zimbabwe: won by 60 runs
vs South Africa: won by 3 runs
Add in an 11-3 ODI record including another major tournament finals appearance and Blackcaps are a combined 20-5 in these two formats this year. Southee has retired, Boult doesn't want to play for Aotearoa and Williamson's eight games during the Champions Trophy is less than half of the 25 games Blackcaps have played in ODI/T20Is this year.
This gets even funkier because Blackcaps used 17 players in the five tri-series games and 21 players in T20Is this year. Slide back further to the T20 World Cup last year and Blackcaps have used 24 players in their winning mahi which is fantastic for the smallest Test-playing nation in the world.
Results round up
Since T20 World Cup: 12-3
2025: 9-2
Tri-series: 5-0
Number of players used
Since T20 World Cup: 24
2025: 21
Tri-series: 17
The Super Smash is the most underrated T20 tournament in the world because it lacks the international 'star power' of other competitions while producing tremendous T20I talent for Aotearoa. Super Smash cricket is awesome summer entertainment for kiwis and it consistently delivers new players to Blackcaps, who either earn T20 league opportunities around the world from their Super Smash mahi or their contributions to Blackcaps.
Bevon Jacobs is the latest and best example because he got an IPL gig after his first season of Super Smash. Tim Robinson, Will O'Rourke, Zak Foulkes and Mitch Hay made their T20I debuts last year after impressive Super Smash performances. Robinson, Foulkes and Hay have all played 10+ T20Is since then and O'Rourke has played seven. Jacobs has the most T20 hype of them all and he only played three tri-series games.
Sefert and Ravindra led Blackcaps for tri-series runs, while also being the only Blackcaps with 200+ T20I runs this year. Having Seifert open the batting as a wicket-keeper is a boost for Blackcaps in this format as there are a bunch of all-rounders down the order providing plenty of selection options. A lack of runs from Hay helps sort through the wicket-keeping clutter as well.
Ravindra has settled into a T20I role and should be a 1st 11 player during the upcoming T20 phase for Aotearoa. Devon Conway also took his opportunity, which along with Blackcaps missing Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips for the tri-series, plus the rise of Robinson and Jacobs, applies more pressure to Mark Chapman.
Rachin Ravindra
2021: 9avg/98sr
2023: 18.2avg/134sr
2024: 15.8avg/119sr
2025: 42.4avg/164sr
Tim Seifert
Before 2023: 23.5avg/130sr
Since start of 2023: 36.4avg/154sr
Chapman scored 13 runs in his three innings of the tri-series and along with Hay, he is the only Blackcaps batter with 40+ runs in T20Is this year who is averaging below 30. Hay and Jimmy Neesham only batted once in the tri-series without runs, which is makes it tricky to assess their mahi but there is alignment with how they have performed in T20Is this year.
At least Chapman has a solid 18avg/151.57sr in T20Is this year and Hay is well below that on 10.7avg/104.8sr. Neesham has been a good bowling option in T20Is this year but the fact that his excellent average of 12.5 is higher than his batting average of 2.7 in T20Is this year is a weird wrinkle. The usually reliable slugging of Neesham hasn't been seen this year with a strike-rate of 61 in his four innings.
Take out the Chapman/Hay duo and Blackcaps have eight batters with 40+ runs, averages over 30 and strike-rates over 130 this year.
Most tri-series games
Five games: Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert
Four games: Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell
Most T20Is since last T20 World Cup
14 games: Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman
13 games: Jacob Duffy
12 games: Daryl Mitchell
11 games: Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay
10 games: Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert
Nine games: Ish Sodhi
10 games in 2025
Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Daryl Mitchell, Tim Seifert
Neesham is part of the group who have 4+ wickets in T20Is this year with averages below 20. This group is led by Duffy, Sodhi and Henry who are the only Blackcaps with 10+ wickets and they all average below 15. Along with Neesham, there is Adam Milne who took 4w @ 19.5avg in the tri-series.
Henry (10w), Sodhi, Duffy (6w), Milne and Santner (4w) were the leading wicket-takers for Blackcaps in the tri-series. Santner was the only bowler who averaged over 20 (34.5avg) and he was also the only player who bowled in all five games, with his 18 overs leading the Blackcaps.
Eight bowlers had at least 7 overs in the tri-series. Santner was joined by Henry, Duffy and Milne in bowling more than 10 overs. This provides insight into conditions as Santner was the only spinner to bowl more than 8 overs, while Foulkes' 9.5 overs makes it four seamers in the five most busiest bowlers for Blackcaps during the tri-series.
Sodhi snapped up his opportunity, bowling all 8 overs available in his two appearances. Sodhi finished with the lowest bowling average and was the only Blackcaps bowler who averaged below 10, as well as being the only bowler below 6rpo. His best mahi was against Zimbabwe (4w @ 3rpo) but Sodhi also took 2w @ 8.5rpo against South Africa earlier in the tri-series, with his 5.7rpo well below Bracewell's 8.5rpo and Santner's 7.6rpo.
Ish Sodhi
Before 2020: 24avg/8.1rpo
Since start of 2020: 21.8avg/7.8rpo
The most impressive bowling pocket are the two seamers in Henry and Duffy. Duffy is the best Blackcaps bowler in T20Is this year as he has 20w and is averaging a crazy 12.2 while also being the busiest Blackcaps bowler in T20Is this year. Duffy is the only player who has bowled in all 10 games and his 36.4ov are well ahead of Foulkes who is next on 23.5ov.
Jacob Duffy
Before 2023: 20.8avg/7.2rpo
Since start of 2023: 14.9avg/6.9rpo
Duffy is also the only Blackcaps bowler with 5+ wickets who is conceding less than 7rpo (6.6rpo) and his development into a elite T20I bowler has boosted the Blackcaps seam department. Henry finished as the leading wicket-taker in the tri-series for Blackcaps and his 8.4rpo was only behind Bracewell's 8.5rpo for the most expensive Blackcaps bowlers who took a wicket in the tri-series.
This is part of a theme for Henry as he has got more expensive in T20I bowling while taking more wickets. The only Blackcaps bowlers over 9rpo in T20Is this year (aside from Phillips 1ov @ 12rpo) are Henry (9.2rpo), Bracewell (9.3rpo) and Sears (9rpo). Henry is eating up wickets though with 2+ wickets in all four of his tri-series innings and he has 2+ wickets in nine of his last 10 T20I innings.
Matt Henry
Before 2020: 27.2avg/8.6rpo
Since start of 2020: 18.7avg/8.2rpo
2023: 21.6avg/7.2rpo
2024: 20.7avg/8.4rpo
2025: 14.5avg/9.2rpo
Blackcaps T20I depth
Top order: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen (wk), Rachin Ravindra (spin), Kane Williamson, Devon Conway (wk), Tim Robinson
Middle order: Daryl Mitchell, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips (spin), Michael Bracewell (spin), Mark Chapman, Bevon Jacobs, Mitch Hay (wk), Jimmy Neesham (seam)
Spin: Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi
Seam: Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Zak Foulkes, Will O'Rourke, Ben Sears, Kyle Jamieson
Notable emerging T20I players who have played for Blackcaps: Muhammad Abbas, Nathan Smith, Adithya Ashok, Josh Clarkson, Dean Foxcroft, Ben Lister
Tri-series stats
Batting
Tim Seifert: 196 runs @ 49avg/138sr
Rachin Ravindra: 143 runs @ 35.7avg/159sr
Devon Conway: 134 runs @ 44.6avg/140sr
Tim Robinson: 85 runs @ 85avg/129sr
Daryl Mitchell: 67 runs @ 67avg/126sr
Bevon Jacobs: 44 runs @ 44avg/137sr
Michael Bracewell: 41 runs @ 41avg/146sr
Mark Chapman: 13 runs @ 4.3avg/76sr
Mitchell Santner: 10 runs @ 10avg/111sr
Mitch Hay: 2 runs @ 2avg/67sr
Zak Foulkes: 1 run @ 100sr
Jimmy Neesham: 0 runs off 2 balls
Bowling
Matt Henry: 13.2ov, 10w @ 11.3avg/8.4rpo
Ish Sodhi: 8ov, 6w @ 7.6avg/5.7rpo
Jacob Duffy: 15ov, 6w @ 17.6avg/7rpo
Adam Milne: 12ov, 4w @ 19.5avg/6.5rpo
Mitchell Santner: 18ov, 4w @ 34.5avg/7.6rpo
Michael Bracewell: 7ov, 3w @ 20avg/8.5rpo
Will O'Rourke: 7ov, 2w @ 22.5avg/6.4rpo
Zak Foulkes: 9.5ov, 2w @ 31avg/6.3rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 4ov, 1w @ 24avg/6rpo
Jimmy Neesham: 3ov @ 9.6rpo
2025 T20I Stats (in order of runs and wickets)
Batting
Tim Seifert: 55.6avg/170sr
Rachin Ravindra: 42.4avg/164sr
Daryl Mitchell: 32.8avg/134sr
Finn Allen: 36avg/212sr
Mark Chapman: 18avg/152sr
Tim Robinson: 70avg/137sr
Devon Conway: 44.6avg/140sr
Michael Bracell: 41.3avg/163sr
Bevon Jacobs: 44avg/137sr
Mitch Hay: 10.7avg/105sr
Zak Foulkes: 25 runs @ 147sr
Mitchell Santner: 24avg/126sr
Jimmy Neesham: 2.7avg/61sr
Bowling
Jacob Duffy: 12.2avg/6.6rpo
Ish Sodhi: 13.7avg/7.3rpo
Matt Henry: 14.5avg/9.2rpo
Jimmy Neesham: 12.5avg/7.6rpo
Zak Foulkes: 26avg/7.6po
Mitchell Santner: 34.8avg/8.2ro
Adam Milne: 19.5avg/6.5rpo
Michael Bracewell: 53avg/9.3rpo
Kyle Jamieson: 20.6avg/7.7rpo
Will O'Rourke: 34.3avg/6.8rpo
Ben Sears: 33avg/9rpo
Daryl Mitchell: 6avg/6rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 24avg/6rpo
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