Pretoria Capitals Duo Shine as South Africa Defeat New Zealand
South Africa sealed a thrilling 3-2 series win during the New Zealand tour and the story featured two Pretoria Capitals stars, captain Keshav Maharaj and top-order batter Connor Esterhuizen.
From a Pretoria Capitals perspective, this series highlighted how their players are delivering on the international stage ahead of upcoming global tournaments and T20 cricket leagues.
The duo also played the SA20 Final against Sunrisers Eastern Cape a couple of months ago in Pretoria Capitals colours, where they fell short.
Pretoria Capitals Rising Star Plays Hero
Connor Esterhuizen returned from the tour with two Player-of-the-Match awards, one Player-of-the-Series award and even an extra bat after a dominant performance. While the awards came from his batting performance, additionally, he also won a bet against Keshav Maharaj. After the match, the skipper revealed that he had promised Esterhuizen a bat from his kit bag if he scored 75 runs.
With the series level at 2-2 before the final match, South Africa posted 187/4 batting first. Esterhuizen smashed 75 off 33 balls, hitting 5 fours and 6 sixes.
New Zealand replied with 154/8, losing by 33 runs, as South Africa clinched the series 3-2.
Esterhuizen had earlier made 45 off 48 balls on debut during the first T20I of the series, helping South Africa chase 92 on a difficult Mount Maunganui pitch. Though he had two low scores in the middle of the series, he bounced back with 2 half-centuries.
He finished with 200 runs in 5 innings at an average of 50.00 and a strike rate of 145.98. His tally was 100 runs more than Devon Conway (100), the next best batter.
South Africa’s second-highest scorer was Rubin Hermann with 97 runs in 5 innings.
Among the top five highest individual scores in the series, Esterhuizen featured three times. He was also the only South African batter to score a fifty in the series.
Pretoria Capitals Influence: Maharaj Backs Esterhuizen
Keshav Maharaj, Esterhuizen’s captain at Pretoria Capitals, has closely worked with the young batter during the most recent SA20 season.
Esterhuizen had a modest SA20 season, scoring just 166 runs in 12 matches at an average of 15.09 and a strike rate of 105.73. However, Maharaj continued to back him.
“I was fortunate enough to spend the whole SA20 (at Pretoria Capitals) with him, just to see how he goes about his business. He’s a real hard worker. He’s someone who’s under my wing,” Maharaj said after the match.
That backing clearly paid off in this international series.
Keshav Maharaj Leads from the Front
This series was equally special for Pretoria Capitals skipper Keshav Maharaj.
He led South Africa as the stand-in captain in place of Aiden Markram, who led the side during the recent T20 World Cup. At the start of the series, Maharaj also became the 15th player to play 50 T20Is for South Africa.
He brought experience to a young side. Maharaj has now captained South Africa in at least 25 international matches across formats.
He also comes in with strong franchise credentials. Maharaj has led teams to two SA20 finals, including guiding Pretoria Capitals to the SA20 2025-26 Final, where they finished runners-up.
While Maharaj was not the standout bowler statistically, his leadership played a key role in South Africa’s bowling success.
- Gerald Coetzee picked up 8 wickets, joint-most in the series with New Zealand’s Ben Sears
- Ottneil Baartman took 7 wickets
- Keshav Maharaj also picked up 7 wickets
South Africa started the series with a win while chasing a modest target under 100. They then lost the next 2 matches before bouncing back to win the fourth game and level the series 2-2, eventually sealing it in the final.
With the IPL set to begin on March 28, several South African players were rested during the tour. Despite that, the team delivered a strong performance.
From a Pretoria Capitals point of view, this series underlined the impact of their core players. Esterhuizen emerged as a match-winner, while Maharaj proved his leadership credentials once again.