ODI World Cup 2023: 5 players with most wickets in NZ vs SA rivalry

New Zealand has been performing so well from the last two world cups. They’ve played finals of both world cups in 2015 they’ve lost to Australia and in 2019 they’ve lost to England which was not actually a loss but due to score being tied England was announced as winners in terms of boundaries. In this World cup they are performing extraordinary again, they’ve won the first four games. They’ve lost against India for the first time in 23 years and against Australia they gave a strong competition but left 2 runs short from chasing the highest total in World Cup history. Today in Pune the NZ vs SA could be a thrilling game again, South Africa which is coming with a win over Pakistan, it was their fifth win in six games. South Africa is looking stronger than the Kiwis. 

In eight games of the World cup New Zealand has dominated the Proteas with 6-2. Last time when they met New Zealand destroyed South Africa with 4 wickets. It was the 1999 world cup when South Africa won a game in the World Cup against the Black Caps. Will South Africa break this streak today or do they have to wait more. In this Article we’ll talk about the five most successful bowlers in the ODI history of these two teams. 

Shaun Pollock 

South African most Successful bowler Shaun pollock is leading this table with 48 wickets in43 games. He has taken these wickets in between 1996 to 2007. He bowled with the economy of 3.74 and took one four wicket haul. Shaun Pollock has taken the highest wickets(829) for South Africa in international cricket. He is also considered as the most economical bowler in World Cricket with 2.92. Shaun is one of the greatest bowlers in the 90s era and his legacy is still alive that no other South African bowler has surpassed him yet. 

Allan Donald 

Another South African legendary seamer Allan Donald is sitting at second position in this list with 40 wickets in 25 games. He played these games against New Zealand between 1992 to 2003. Allan Donald is the current coach of Bangladesh National Cricket Team. he has taken 602 international wickets which is the fourth highest for South Africa. Allan was born in a free state which was also known as Orange free state in 1966. 

Makhaya Ntini 

South African first black player Makhaya Ntini has taken 37 wickets in 24 games between 1998 to 2007. Makhaya is the third most successful bowler for South Africa and no other non-white South African bowler has surpassed him yet. He was born in cape province in 1977 and struggled so hard to play for his country without being white and due to reservation in his national cricket team his dream to play for his country has come true. Despite being black among a lot of white bowlers he became one of the most successful bowlers in South African history. 

Jacques Kallis

South African All rounder Jacques is the fourth highest wicket taker against in NZ vs SA clash. He has taken 37 wickets in 45 games. He is also the highest run scorer against this opponent. Kallis is one of the greatest all rounders the world has ever seen. He is the highest international run scorer for South Africa and sixth around the globe. He also has the fifth most international wickets for his nation. 

Christopher Cairns 

New Zealand’s former all rounder Christopher Cairns is the fifth most successful wicket taker in this list. He has taken 33 wickets in 31 games in NZ vs SA between 1992 to 2004. Cairns has taken over 400 international wickets in his career and more than 8000 international runs. He has scored 875 runs against New Zealand with one triple digit score. He has scored a total 4 ODI centuries and three of them were against India.