A tri-series of transitions for SA, NZ and Zimbabwe

After a two-Test series against South Africa, where they were blown away quite emphatically, Zimbabwe get ready to host South Africa and New Zealand for a T20I tri-series, starting July 14.

T20I tri-series are not played too often. The last one involving at least one Full Member was in 2022 when New Zealand hosted Pakistan and Bangladesh. Zimbabwe will face South Africa in the first game of this series on Monday, while South Africa will then face New Zealand on July 16. Zimbabwe will take on New Zealand two days later.

All the matches of the tri-series are scheduled to take place at the Harare Sports Club. Each team will face the others twice before the top two sides play the final on July 26. Here's a lookahead to the series:

South Africa are yet to play a T20I this year and will be without a lot of their first-choice players, all rested. South Africa have had a strange run in T20Is since the highs and heartbreaks of the T20 World Cup 2024. Soon after losing to India in the final, they lost 3-0 to West Indies, drew 1-1 against Ireland and lost to India 3-1 at home.

They did win a home T20I series against Pakistan in December last year and with the next T20 World Cup not far away, will look to quickly get back into the scheme of things. But they will have to do without regular captain Aiden Markram, and several other first-choice players. Despite that, this is a side packed with plenty of talent.

Rassie van der Dussen will lead the side, which has Lhuan-dré Pretorius up top. The left-hander was the top scorer in SA20 2025 and scored a Test century on debut against Zimbabwe recently. Nandre Burger and Gerald Coetzee are also making a return to the national side after being sidelined due to injuries. They will spearhead the attack alongside Kwena Maphaka. The likes of Dewald Brevis, George Linde, Nqabayomzi Peter and Rubin Hermann have all been in decent domestic form recently and will want to leave a mark.

It will be interesting to see how the New Zealand players fare on their return to international cricket after more than two months away in the winter playing various leagues. New Zealand last played an international game on April 5 at home against Pakistan, while their last T20I was on March 26 against the same opponents. They have decent T20I form under their belt, though, having won seven of their last ten matches in the format.

This will also be Rob Walter's first stint as New Zealand's head coach across formats. Walter was, as recently as April 2025, South Africa's white-ball coach, where he enjoyed plenty of success but resigned two years into his four-year contract to further his career in his adopted home in New Zealand.

Devon Conway, who was initially left out of the tri-series squad and last played a T20I more than a year ago at the T20 World Cup, has got a lucky break and will want to make it count. He was only included after Finn Allen was ruled out due to a foot injury he sustained at the MLC 2025. Conway scored only 156 runs in six innings in IPL 2025 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and recently played at MLC for Texas Super Kings (TSK), where he managed 135 runs in four innings.

Adam Milne also makes a return for the first time since February 2024 and will be keen on making a mark with Lockie Ferguson rested. Milne, since undergoing an ankle surgery which kept him out of the T20 World Cup 2024, has been busy playing franchise cricket. He most recently turned out for TSK in MLC, where he picked 14 wickets in six innings with a best of 5 for 23.

Bevon Jacobs is also in line for a debut against the country of his birth, now that a middle-order spot has opened up with Glenn Phillips set to miss at least the opening game of the tri-series, having been busy in the MLC final. Jacobs, an explosive middle-order batter, will want to tick off a few things on his checklist by the end of this tri-series if he gets a chance.

After three back-to-back Test defeats, Zimbabwe will be glad to return to the comforts of T20I cricket. This is a format where they have been competitive in recent times. It's also tremendous prep ahead of the Africa Qualifiers in September-October 2025 with 2026 T20 World Cup spots on the line.

In T20Is, they're coming off a 1-0 win against Ireland (two of the games were washed out) and won a T20I against Afghanistan and Pakistan in December last year.

Zimbabwe will be buoyed with the return of fast bowler Richard Ngarava, who missed the two Tests against South Africa due to a lower back injury but has recovered. Top-order batter Brian Bennett, who has been Zimbabwe's best batter in recent times, has also been cleared for the T20I series after being subbed out of the second Test against South Africa due to concussion.

Zimbabwe have a good mix of fast bowlers and spinners, but it's their batting that needs to step up. Bennett will lead the show up top while Sikandar Raza, the captain, provides stability in the middle. But the likes of Clive Madande, Dion Myers and Ryan Burl will need to score some runs to get Zimbabwe a move on.