{"id":234550,"date":"2026-03-22T06:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T06:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/22\/jess-kerr-sophie-devine-power-new-zealand-to-series-clinching-win-over-south-africa-in-4th-t20i\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T06:30:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T06:30:04","slug":"jess-kerr-sophie-devine-power-new-zealand-to-series-clinching-win-over-south-africa-in-4th-t20i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/22\/jess-kerr-sophie-devine-power-new-zealand-to-series-clinching-win-over-south-africa-in-4th-t20i\/","title":{"rendered":"Jess Kerr, Sophie Devine power New Zealand to series-clinching win over South Africa in 4th T20I"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>New Zealand Women delivered a clinical performance in Wellington, sealing a six-wicket win over South Africa Women in the fourth T20I and clinching the five-match series in dominant fashion. The match belonged to <strong>Jess Kerr<\/strong>, whose outstanding spell with the ball set the tone for the hosts and earned her the Player of the Match award.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"jess-kerr-shines-with-ball-for-new-zealand\"><strong>Jess Kerr shines with ball for New Zealand<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After being put in to bat, South Africa managed 159\/6 \u2013 a competitive total on paper, but one that always felt slightly under par given the conditions. A big reason for that was Kerr\u2019s exceptional control with the ball. She returned figures of 3\/16 in her four overs, consistently breaking partnerships and never allowing the visitors to build real momentum.<\/p>\n<p>Kerr made an early impact by trapping Chloe Tryon lbw, before striking again to remove captain Laura Wolvaardt. She later dismissed Tazmin Brits, a key wicket that halted South Africa\u2019s progress during a crucial phase. Her disciplined line and length forced errors, keeping the scoring rate in check throughout the innings.<\/p>\n<p>She was well supported by <strong>Amelia Kerr<\/strong> and <strong>Sophie Devine<\/strong>, who chipped in with timely wickets. The New Zealand bowling unit worked as a cohesive group, applying pressure from both ends and ensuring South Africa never got away.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the setbacks, <strong>Annerie Dercksen<\/strong> stood tall for the visitors with an unbeaten 55 off 32 balls. Her aggressive approach helped South Africa recover from early losses, with useful contributions from Nadine de Klerk and Kayla Reyneke towards the end. However, the lack of sustained partnerships meant they couldn\u2019t fully capitalize, finishing with a total that always looked slightly vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/womencricket.com\/2026\/03\/22\/alana-king-steers-australia-to-series-clinching-win-over-west-indies-in-2nd-womens-t20i\/\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alana King steers Australia to series-clinching win over West Indies in 2nd Women\u2019s T20I<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sophie-devine-leads-the-chase-as-new-zealand-seal-the-series\"><strong>Sophie Devine leads the chase as New Zealand seal the series<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Chasing 160, New Zealand approached the target with confidence and composure. While they lost an early wicket in Isabella Gaze, there was never any sense of panic in the camp. <strong>Georgia Plimmer<\/strong> and Amelia Kerr steadied the innings, building a solid foundation with a partnership that kept the scoreboard ticking.<\/p>\n<p>Plimmer\u2019s brisk 29 provided early momentum, while Amelia Kerr played a composed knock of 31, ensuring the chase stayed on track. But it was all-rounder Sophie Devine who truly took control of the game.<\/p>\n<p>Devine\u2019s explosive 64 off 34 balls turned the contest decisively in New Zealand\u2019s favour. Mixing power with precision, she attacked the bowlers with authority, finding boundaries at will and putting South Africa under immense pressure. Her innings effectively took the game away from the visitors, leaving little doubt about the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>Even after Devine\u2019s dismissal in the later stages, the job was nearly done. Brooke Halliday and Maddy Green calmly guided the team home, <a href=\"https:\/\/womencricket.com\/scorecard\/129684\/south-africa-women-tour-of-new-zealand-2026\/91564\/new-zealand-women-vs-south-africa-women\/\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>finishing the chase with nine balls to spare<\/strong><\/a> and ensuring a comfortable victory.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New Zealand takes 3-1 lead in the 5-match T20I series over South Africa \ud83c\udfcf<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NZvSA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#NZvSA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/cricket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#cricket<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/T20I?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#T20I<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FwUzCxJFIc\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/FwUzCxJFIc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 WomenCricket.com (@WomenCricketHQ) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WomenCricketHQ\/status\/2035595135254413331?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Also READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/womencricket.com\/2026\/03\/20\/sophie-devines-all-round-show-powers-new-zealand-to-emphatic-win-over-south-africa-in-3rd-womens-t20i\/\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sophie Devine\u2019s all-round show powers New Zealand to emphatic win over South Africa in 3rd Women\u2019s T20I<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>This article was first published at <a href=\"https:\/\/womencricket.com\/?p=21936\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WomenCricket.com<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/crickettimes.com\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Cricket Times<\/a> company.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/crickettimes.com\/2026\/03\/jess-kerr-sophie-devine-power-new-zealand-to-series-clinching-win-over-south-africa-in-4th-t20i\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Zealand Women delivered a clinical performance in Wellington, sealing a six-wicket win over South Africa Women in the fourth T20I and clinching the five-match series in dominant fashion. The match belonged to Jess Kerr, whose outstanding spell with the ball set the tone for the hosts and earned her the Player of the Match [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":234551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6803],"tags":[87,32128,64793,167,88,64720,1312,239,70969,960,50499,1292],"class_list":{"0":"post-234550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-cricket","9":"tag-featured","10":"tag-jess-kerr","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-nz-w-vs-sa-w","14":"tag-sophie-devine","15":"tag-south-africa","16":"tag-south-africa-women-tour-of-new-zealand-2026","17":"tag-t20i","18":"tag-white-ferns","19":"tag-women-cricket"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}