South Africa Women 154 for 5 (van Niekerk 42, Tryon 34*, Huddleston 2-33, Devine 2-38) beat New Zealand Women 153 for 5 (Devine 77, Khakha 2-14, Luus 2-27) by five wickets
An unbeaten 16-ball 34 from Chloe Tryon powered South Africa to victory with one ball remaining in the third T20I in Wellington, keeping the series alive with two matches left to play. South Africa needed 52 off 33 balls when Tryon came to the crease, and she clattered two fours and three sixes - including one off Sophie Devine when the equation had come down to eight off four balls - in an innings that prevented New Zealand from taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
That last over ended a bittersweet match for Devine, who scored a 57-ball 77 and took the wickets of both South Africa openers within the powerplay. From there, South Africa stayed in the game courtesy useful contributions from Marizanne Kapp (20 off 15), Dane van Niekerk (42 off 40) and Mignon du Preez (23 off 22), but tight bowling from the Kerr sisters, medium-pacer Jessica (3-0-14-0) and legspinner Amelia (4-0-17-1), had kept them on a tight leash before Tryon made the decisive intervention.
Devine set the perfect platform for New Zealand, hitting seven fours and four sixes and scoring at a rate well above most of her team-mates'. When Sune Luus dismissed her, New Zealand were 130 for 4 with 19 balls left in their innings. Only 23 runs came off those 19 balls, however, with Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail tying the middle order down at the death.