South Africa’s Markram mauls New Zealand in seven-wicket T20 World Cup win

Captain Aiden Markram hits an unbeaten 86 in seven-wicket defeat of New Zealand in Ahmedabad.Published On 14 Feb 2026South Africa are on the brink of reaching the Twenty20 World Cup’s Super Eight stage after captain Aiden Markram’s storming half-century led them to a dominant seven-wicket victory over New ⁠Zealand, securing their third straight Group D win.New Zealand on Saturday suffered their first loss in the campaign after they posted 175-7 as South Africa’s Marco Jansen took four wickets.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Swear words fly as cheating allegations made in curling at Winter Olympicslist 2 of 4Suspected Winter Olympics sabotage condemned as ‘hateful criminal acts’list 3 of 4Ukraine’s Heraskevych has appeal for Winter Olympic reinstatement dismissedlist 4 of 4Trump pardons 5 former NFL players ranging from perjury to drug traffickingend of listIn response, opener Markram hit four ⁠sixes and eight boundaries in his unbeaten knock of 86 off 44 balls, the highest by a South African captain in the tournament’s history, helping his team reach 178-3 with 17 balls to spare.Last edition’s finalists South Africa chose to bowl first in Ahmedabad, India, and it immediately paid off as player of the match Jansen (4-40) dismissed most ‌of New Zealand’s top order by the seventh over.Finn Allen (31 off 17 balls) tried to mitigate the damage after Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra fell to Jansen. But Jansen got Allen caught at mid-off in the sixth over, leaving New Zealand struggling at 58-3.Mark Chapman (48) and Daryl Mitchell (32) turned things around with a 74-run partnership for the fifth wicket until Jansen got Chapman caught by Ryan Rickelton at backward point in the 14th.New Zealand scored only 17 runs in the next four overs until James ⁠Neesham’s unbeaten 23 off 15 balls got them to a fighting total.Markram’s magic seals the deal for South AfricaChasing 176, South Africa got off to a fast start with Markram hitting three sixes and five boundaries to steer his team to 62-0 in four overs.