Rare scenes in Lahore! South Africa's fielding coach Wandile Gwavu takes the field vs New Zealand

In a rare incident, South Africa National Cricket Team fielding coach Wandile Gwavu was spotted fielding during their Tri-National ODI series clash against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Monday (February 10). Fans witnessed the rare scenes during New Zealand's chase.

South Africa had run out of substitutes while fielding and needed an extra player. Interestingly, they had only named two substitutes at the start of the game, and they had to bring their fielding coach on the field during their six-wicket loss to the Black Caps in Lahore.

South Africa fielding coach Wandile Gwavu takes the field against New Zealand in Lahore

In the viral pictures, Wandile Gwavu, who has recently been appointed as South Africa's full-time white-ball fielding coach, can be seen fulfilling fielding duty for the Proteas as the Black Caps were chasing the daunting target of 305 runs at the renovated Gaddafi Stadium.

🚨 ONE OF THE RARE INCIDENT IN CRICKET 🚨

- South African fielding coach is currently fielding in the match against New Zealand at Lahore. pic.twitter.com/ajo4GQDoe3

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 10, 2025

The match witnessed a stunning performance by the South African debutant Matthew Breetzke, who hammered a record-breaking knock of 150 runs off 148 balls, laced with 11 boundaries and five sixes, to propel South Africa to 304 runs on the board against the Kiwis.

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Apart from Matthew Breetzke, Wiaan Mulder (64 runs off 60 balls) and Jason Smith (41 runs off 21 balls) managed to survive the Black Caps’ bowling attack and helped the Proteas side to post the challenging target on the board at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Monday.

Matthew Breetzke shines bright with the bat on his ODI debut against New Zealand

Notably, Breetzke was involved in the three crucial partnerships, adding 37 runs with captain Temba Bavuma, 93 4uns with Jason Smith, and 131 runs with Wiaan Mulder against New Zealand. With this knock, Matthew Breetzke became the only player to score 150 on ODI debut.

Breetzke also became the fourth South African to score a century in his debut match after Colin Ingram, Temba Bavuma, and Reeza Hendricks. For New Zealand, Will O'Rourke and Matt Henry each scalped two wickets against the South African side.

However, New Zealand's batting maestro Kane Williamson delivered a match-winning century that was enough to take them to a thrilling six-wicket win over the Proteas side. Kane Williamson played a remarkable knock of an unbeaten 133 runs off 113 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and two sixes and stitched an incredible 187-run partnership with Devon Conway (97 runs) to the Black Caps chase down the target with 8 balls to spare against South Africa.

Read Also: World record alert! Matthew Breetzke becomes greatest ODI debutant of all time

It was New Zealand’s highest successful chase against South Africa. Williamson was named Player of the Match for his stunning knock, as the Black Caps qualified for the final of the Tri-nation ODI series after winning both matches. Recently, they defeated Pakistan in the first game.

We need to be clinical: Temba Bavuma

Temba Bavuma said at the post-match presentation, “There were some positives. The debutants did well, and from a bowling point of view, everyone chipped in, but we weren't good enough. We will like to focus on those positives, though. It was a bit tricky with the new ball; they got the ball to nip around. It did get easier later on; we would have liked to get some more runs. We have to be a lot better from today; with our batting and bowling, we need to be clinical. It is a quick turnaround, but individually we will have to get better.”

Bavuma signed off by praising Breetzke, “He was amazing; he was waiting in the wings. He is one of the few guys who plays all three formats. Glad to see him repay the trust the selectors are showing in him. Hope he can only get stronger.”