Why Mitchell Santner is Not Playing Today in NZ vs SA 4th T20I?

New Zealand will take on South Africa in the 4th T20I match on March 22 in Wellington. The hosts are leading the series by 2-1, after losing the first match against the Proteas. They turned the tables after that loss, and now, if they win one more game, they'll win the series.

Ahead of the fourth match, skipper Mitchell Santner is not included in the playing 11 as the New Zealand team management has taken a bold decision ahead of the game.

Why Mitchell Santner is Not Playing Today Against South Africa?

New Zealand have already won two matches, and a win will seal the series for them. Hence, the management has decided to give one of the best spinners in the world, Santner, a rest for the match. Instead of him, Tom Latham was supposed to take over the team's captaincy, but he's out too due to a thumb injury. Hence, James Neesham has been handed over the team's responsibility.

“Obviously, an honour (leading the team), something you reflect on later and probably after your career. Happy to do whatever the team requires,” said Neesham at the toss.

The management brought in Zakary Foulkes as Mitchell Santner replacement. The hosts have been quite dominating in the series after losing in the T20 World Cup 2026 final against India. It will be interesting to see if they manage to seal the series today by beating the Proteas one more time. If the Kiwis lose today's match, the last match will become the series decider. Meanwhile, the Proteas' performance has been quite average.

How has Mitchell Santner's Performance Been in 2026?

One of the best T20 cricket teams in the world, New Zealand skipper, Mitchell Santner, has had a rocky start to the 2026 season. His performance in the T20 World Cup 2026 has not been quite impressive, neither with the bat nor with the ball. He did manage to score 47 and 43 in two games but in the bowling department, his performance was quite shocking. He failed to take wickets in most games and ended up picking up just four wickets in the tournament.

If we talk about his performance in the ongoing T20 series, he has picked up five wickets so far in three matches, which is quite impressive. However, the rest was needed since he had been playing consistently in the past few series.