The win was the Proteas' first of the campaign after suffering a narrow 3-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the opening match of the tournament that was played at Newlands in Cape Town.

For the Kiwis, it was their second heavy defeat of the World Cup after being dismantled by the reigning champions, Australia, on Saturday at the very same Boland Park.

South Africa had a bat first in the must-win game for both teams and managed to post 132/6 in 20 overs after a slow start, with Chloe Tryon scoring 40 runs while Nadine de Klerk contributed with a handy 28 not out.

In reply, New Zealand was bowled out for 67 runs in 18,1 overs. Nonkululeko Mlaba took a career-best 3/10 in 4 overs, while Tryon made 2/12 in three overs.

The player of the match, Tryon, said they were fired up going into the game.

"We sat in the changeroom and spoke about everything and we said, "We'll leave it here," as we had a quick turnaround," said the in-form all-rounder.

"Everyone came with the mindset of just working really hard. I know we put up a score of 130-plus, which I still felt was a little bit short.

"Every bowler knew what they needed to do and you can sort of see that fire burning in everyone. They wanted to win so badly.

"We've still got two really big games coming up. It will be just making sure we still have that fire burning and kind of being ruthless as a bowling unit."

Next up for the Proteas will be the five-time champions, Australia, at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Saturday. Australia will face the unpredictable Bangladesh on Tuesday night in the Friendly City.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport