South Africa and Dolphins allrounder Eathan Bosch has been ruled out of the upcoming five-match T20I series in New Zealand due to a hamstring injury. Allrounder Wiaan Mulder has been named as his replacement in the 15-man squad for the series starting on March 15.
Bosch has played just one game for South Africa – an ODI a year ago – and was in line to make his T20I debut. Mulder, meanwhile, has featured in 11 T20Is and last played one against Ireland in September 2024. His last outing for South Africa was in a Test match in India last year.
The team members currently in South Africa will depart for New Zealand on March 8, while the rest of the squad members and management currently in Kolkata after their exit from the T20 World Cup will travel directly to New Zealand on the same day. The T20 World Cup players who are to travel back home have been in Kolkata because the airspace corridors have been shut in West Asia after military conflicts in the region. They are set to leave India over the weekend on charter planes arranged by the ICC, along with the England and West Indies sides.
Keshav Maharaj will lead in the T20I series that will be played in Mount Maunganui (March 15), Hamilton (March 17), Auckland (March 20), Wellington (March 22) and Christchurch (March 25). They will all act as double-headers as the men’s T20Is will follow the women’s T20Is on the same grounds earlier in the day.
South Africa squad for T20I series in New Zealand
Keshav Maharaj (capt), Ottneil Baartman, Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Connor Esterhuizen, Dian Forrester, Jordan Hermann, Rubin Hermann, George Linde, Nqobani Mokoena, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla, Prenelan Subrayen, and Jason Smith
