MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New Zealand (AP) — A South Africa team with four players on debut rolled World Cup finalist New Zealand for 91 in 14.3 overs and went on to win the first Twenty20 international Sunday by seven wickets.
Opener Connor Esterhuizen anchored the South Africa reply with an unbeaten 45 from 48 balls as the Proteas won with 20 balls to spare. He was supported by Dian Forrester, also on debut, who stayed with him for more than six overs and was 16 not out at the end.
Esterhuizen finished the chase with a six off Kyle Jamieson from the fourth ball of the 17th over.
New Zealand's spinners helped to make a fight of it and captain Mitchell Santner finished with 1-8 from his four overs on a turning pitch at Bay Oval.
“I think all the plans paid off and the execution was top-notch from our bowlers,” South Africa captain Keshav Maharaj said. "It was a young bowling lineup, but whatever we asked them to do, they stood up.
“It was a little nervy towards the end but it showed the maturity in Connor and Dian in the way they played to take it over the line.”
New Zealand had eight players missing from its World Cup squad, including its top-six batters from the team that lost the final against India by 96 runs and beat South Africa by nine wickets in the semifinals.
After choosing to bat first, New Zealand lost five wickets in the powerplay, couldn't recover and stumbled to its 10th-lowest score in T20 internationals, its second-lowest against South Africa.
Gerald Coetzee dismissed New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Tom Latham within the first three overs, finishing with 2-14, then Ottneil Baartman took 2-22 to help complete the ruin of the New Zealand top order.
Baartman dismissed Tim Robinson and Nick Kelly, on debut, before the run-out of Bevon Jacobs left New Zealand on 36-5.
Nqobani Mokoena ran through New Zealand's lower order, taking 3-26 to stifle any hope of a late resurgence. A 26-run partnership between Jimmy Neesham (26) and Mitchell Santner (15) was the best New Zealand could manage.
Neesham fell to Mokoena and captain Santner to his South Africa counterpart Maharaj, who took 2-25.
“It was quite cool making my debut in the first game and I went out there to enjoy it,” said Mokoena, 19, who was Player of the Match. “The first two overs didn't really go my way and I thought I wasn't going to get any wickets. But I just stuck to my plans and thank God it paid off.”
New Zealand plays so often overseas that it's possible they can no longer judge their home conditions. The pitch at Bay Oval looked docile at a glance, but the South African seamers found both seam and swing in the warm early evening conditions.
There was even a little turn for the spinners later. All of the New Zealanders struggled with their timing.
Conway chipped an attempted pull shot to mid-wicket and Tom Latham didn't stop to review when he was hit on the front pad by an inswinging delivery from Coetzee.
Robinson attempted a slog over the leg side but didn't connect and was caught by George Linde running in at mid-on. Kelly was left grasping at a ball from Baartman that pitched on a good length and straightened enough to beat his defensive shot.
Jacobs played the ball into the covers and headed for a single only to see the stumps at the non-striker's end shattered by a direct hit from Rubin Hermann.
“I think there was a little more in the pitch than we thought, especially up front,” Santner said. “South Africa bowled well and put us under pressure from the start. Wickets in the powerplay, it's always tough from there.”
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South Africa's Keshav Maharaj bowls a deliveryduring the first T20 World Cup cricket semifinal match between New Zealand and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
New Zealand's captain Mitchel Santner watches as Indian players celebrate after wining the T20 World Cup cricket final match, in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Gulf countries reported new attacks Sunday morning, a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, threatening for the first time a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.
Tehran accused the United States of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports, without providing evidence, as the war showed no signs of ending.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have deepened Lebanon's humanitarian crisis, with more than 800 people killed and over 850,000 displaced.
Here is the latest:
Bahrain said Sunday its air defenses have intercepted 125 missiles and 211 drones since the Iran war began.
The small island nation — home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet — has been among the most affected by Iranian strikes, which have hit ports, a hotel, a refinery and a water desalination plant. Similar in size to Singapore and less than one-third the size of Rhode Island, it relies on U.S.-made air defense systems. At least one person has been killed in the attacks.
The International Organization for Migration said Sunday that deteriorating conditions in Iranian cities were “driving increasingly complex mobility patterns.” It says the destruction of homes and facilities that provide basic services are pushing many Iranians to northern provinces, where they think they could be safer.
The U.N. agency said people have been displaced to more than 20 provinces and that shelters were facing strain throughout Iran. Iranians are also fleeing to neighboring states, the agency said, including nearly 32,000 to Afghanistan and nearly 4,000 to Pakistan, even though airports and most border crossings — especially to Iraq — are closed.
Iran’s Health Ministry says U.S. and Israeli strikes have killed 223 women and 202 children since the start of the war on Feb. 28, according to Mizan, the official Iranian judiciary news agency.
The Iranian Red Crescent has said that more than 1,300 people have been killed.
A U.S.-Israeli attack early Sunday morning targeted an impoverished residential neighborhood in the southern city of Shiraz, Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA said.
The strike, which occurred southeast of the city, destroyed several housing units belonging to workers and people supported by the state welfare organization, the report said. It said a number of homes were destroyed and several people were injured. There were no reports of fatalities.
There was no immediate comment from Israel or the U.S. On Friday, Israel said it targeted a missile facility in Shiraz. It also has gone after what it says are checkpoints erected by Iran’s paramilitary Basij force.
Neutral Switzerland says it refused permission for two overflights by U.S. reconnaissance planes “in the context of the war in Iran.”
The government said late Saturday that Switzerland’s neutrality law forbids overflights by parties to a conflict that have a military purpose in connection with that conflict. But it does allow humanitarian and medical transit, as well as flights unconnected with the conflict.
Switzerland said it did give clearance for two U.S. transport aircraft to fly over the country on Sunday and for a newly serviced plane to transit on Tuesday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard vowed Sunday to hunt down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
“If the criminal Zionist prime minister is still alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force,” the IRGC said in a statement.
The Israeli military says Iran has launched a new barrage of missiles toward Israel.
It says sirens are alerting residents in areas under attack and air defenses have been activated.
“This reflects a confused policy that missed the point, lost its direction, and lacked wisdom,” Anwar Gargash, adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, wrote on social media late Saturday.
Gargash was referring to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s comments in which he accused the U.S. of using the UAE as a base for its attacks on Iran's Kharg Island.
Sirens sounded in Bahrain ahead of an assault on Sunday, while the United Arab Emirates reported a missile attack, urging residents to shelter in safe locations.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said its systems intercepted and destroyed 10 drones over the capital, Riyadh, and the kingdom’s eastern region.
Iran’s joint military command accused in a statement Sunday "the enemy” of using copycat Iranian drones to attack neighboring countries and pin the blame on Tehran, state media reported.
Tehran usually uses “the enemy” as a reference to the United States and Israel.
The statement said copies of Iran's Shahed-136 drone, known as LUCAS, were used to hit “irrelevant targets in the regional states," including attacks on Turkey, Iraq and Kuwait. No evidence was provided.
The military command also said Iran openly shares its targets, which it describes as U.S. and Israeli interests, and urged trust and cooperation from regional countries.
The United Arab Emirates reported a missile attack Sunday morning.
Authorities urged residents to remain in safe locations.
The U.S. Department of Defense on Saturday identified six service members who died when the military refueling aircraft they were aboard crashed Thursday while supporting operations against Iran.
The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, according to U.S. officials.
The crash in western Iraq followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safely.
Israel’s military said early Sunday that Iran launched another round of missiles toward Israel.
Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and loud booms were heard.
A bulldozer clears debris from the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Debris litters the street as smoke rises from buildings damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Policemen stand guard next to the banners showing portraits of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman displays a poster of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as she waves her country's flag during a campaign in support of the government at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Israeli security forces inspect damage at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Holon, central Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man chants slogan while the body of Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, is being buried at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Rescue workers inspect an apartment damaged in an Israeli airstrike as thick smoke fills the building in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)
Fire and plumes of smoke rise from an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
