Zimbabwe will welcome two of the world’s finest T20I teams for a tri-nations series this month. Are there any surprises in our 2025 Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series predictions, or is it going to be another tough outing for the hosts? Read on for our in-depth analysis and our best betting tips for the tournament.
New Zealand and South Africa, ranked fourth and fifth in the World T20I rankings, have flown to Zimbabwe for a T20I tri-nations series. The hosts will face neighbors South Africa in the opening match of the series on July 14 in Harare. All matches, including the final on July 26, will be played at Harare Sports Club.
T20I tri-nation series are quite rare in the international schedule. This will be the first one featuring at least one full-ICC member since the 2022 tournament in New Zealand, where the Kiwis hosted Pakistan and Bangladesh.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | 2025 Zimbabwe Tri-Nation Series (T20I, 20-over format) |
| 🏏 Venues: | Harare Sports Club, Harare, Zimbabwe |
| 🗓️ Dates: | Monday, July 14 to Saturday, July 26, 2025 |
The tournament will feature a double round-robin format. That means all teams will face each other twice in the league stage of the competition. The top two teams in the points table will play the final on July 26. Overall, there will be seven matches in the competition.
We have gone through the best online bookies for cricket, but couldn’t find any outright 2025 Zimbabwe T20I Tri-nation series odds. Still, looking at the teams taking part can give us a better sense of what to expect from the tournament.
Zimbabwe may be 12th in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings with a 200 rating, but they will look to defy the early T20I Tri-Nation 2025 Zimbabwe predictions and make the most of their home advantage in this tournament. Veteran all-rounder Sikandar Raza continues to lead the side, and the return of left-arm pacer Richard Ngarava could be a timely boost for the hosts.
Zimbabwe will shift to the shortest format from the longest after an underwhelming performance against South Africa in a two-Test series. The team will be relieved to return to the format, which they have been the most competitive in recent times. They edged Ireland 1-0 in a rain-affected three-match series and also claimed T20I wins over Afghanistan and Pakistan last December. However, facing South Africa and New Zealand will present a far greater challenge.
Backing the home team in this tournament, therefore, is not the safest cricket T20I tri-nation Series 2025 betting tips to make. As mentioned above, Ngarava’s return should revitalize the Zimbabwe bowling attack, but that’s not the only positive piece of team news Sikandar Raza’s team has received ahead of the series opener.
Brian Bennett, who has been the team’s most reliable batting asset in white ball cricket lately, has also shrugged off his recent injury concerns. However, Zimbabwe will still be the underdogs across top betting companies in Zimbabwe in this tournament.
South Africa has made wholesale changes to the squad as they prepare for their first T20I experience of the year. The Proteas had mixed results in T20Is last year. They made it to the World T20I World Cup final, only to lose to India. Since then, they were whitewashed by the West Indies, drew a series with Ireland, and lost 3-1 to India.
They did close out the year, however, with a series win against Pakistan. Perhaps that gave them the confidence not to go all-in for this tournament. Since the next T20I World Cup is only a year away, the South Africans will take this opportunity to give international exposure to some of their reserve players.
Rassie van der Dussen will captain the side as regular commander-in-chief Aiden Markram will sit this out, alongside some other high-profile names. Lhuan-dre Pretorius will look to continue his explosive SA20 2025 form on the international stage. Both Nandre Burger and Gerald Coetzee rejoin the national squad after extended injury layoffs.
Dewald Brevis, George Linde, Nqabayomzi Peter, and Rubin Hermann have been rewarded for their impressive domestic cricket form, so we believe South Africa will be a solid option to bet on Zimbabwe Tri-Series cricket 2025 online.
New Zealand have been absent from all formats of international cricket over the last two months. Their T20I hiatus has been even longer as they have not played one since March 26. But, the Kiwis will be in no short of self-belief heading into the tournament since they have won seven of their last 10 T20Is.
This will be Rob Walter’s first assignment as the new New Zealand coach. The ex-South Africa boss has brought a strong squad to Zimbabwe, even though Finn Allen and Lockie Ferguson have stayed at home. Devon Conway gets a chance to redeem himself following a disappointing IPL campaign with the Chennai Super Kings.
Glenn Phillips will join the squad later, which gives the opportunity to Zimbabwe-born Bevon Jacobs to make his Black Caps debut. The rest of the squad is full of familiar names, which makes New Zealand the favorite to lift the trophy in this competition, in our opinion.
We only have 2025 Zimbabwe T20I Tri-nation series odds for the series opener right now. So, here are our betting tips for the Zimbabwe vs South Africa match:
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Brian Bennett is back from a concussion, and it’s great news for Zimbabwe. The opener has been in good form lately, so he is expected to be one of the best performers for the home side in this tournament. After scoring 19 with four boundaries against South Africa, Bennett was forced to retire hurt due to a helmet blow, just days after his sensational century in the one-off Test against England.
Bennett’s recent T20I form has been impressive, with 139 runs and 14 boundaries in his last six innings. He played all of those innings at the Harare Sports Club and has scored the highest runs and hit the most boundaries among Zimbabwean batters over that stretch. So, there is good reason to believe Bennett will outshine his peers once again and hit the most fours for the hosts.
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Rassie van der Dussen must lead from the front as South Africa chose to leave out senior batters in this tournament. The right-hand batter has been in decent form in limited-overs cricket. Factor in his experience, and he appears to be the most sensible pick as the top South African batter in this match.
Van der Dussen will wear the South Africa shirt in a T20I for the first time since his quickfire 66 off 38 against Pakistan at Centurion in December. He has scored 187 runs for Islamabad United and MI Cape Town across 11 innings with an average of 46.8. So, it won’t be a wild pick to predict him as the best South African batter against Zimbabwe.
We expect Brian Bennett and Rassie van der Dussen to shine for their respective teams in our final T20I Tri-Nation 2025 Zimbabwe predictions.
