Kane Williamson was at the forefront of captain Brendon McCullum's praise, with James Franklin a close second, after New Zealand clinched a tight five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in Tuesday's second and final Twenty20 International at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

Chasing a daunting target after half-centuries from Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor pushed the hosts to an impressive 200 for two, the Kiwis tucked into a promising start on the back of Franklin and Rob Nicol's 103-run opening stand inside 11 overs.

The left-handed Franklin proved the aggressor in the century stand, launching into a 37-ball knock of 60, which included five of the 21 sixes hit in the high-scoring fixture.

McCullum later tucked into a 38-run cameo that had his side on course for a comfortable triumph. Two wickets in consecutive deliveries from Kyle Jarvis, however, pulled Zimbabwe back into the thrilling contest.

Requiring 14 runs from the final over to win the match and the series, the Black Caps quickly racked up triumph with two balls to spare on the back of Williamson's blitz. Fed the strike by Andrew Ellis' calm single, the right-hander cracked four, six and four off seamer Shingi Masakadza to seal the deal.

"Zimbabwe batted well, they put together partnerships, which put us under pressure. I am happy to get the win, though, and to wrap up the series. James batted well, made the most of his promotion," enthused McCullum. "Kane is a class act. He is a very mature cricketer and showed he can adjust to all forms. His innings here was testament to his temperament."

Victorious in the one-off Test, three ODIs and two T20Is, the Black Caps will now face the Proteas across three Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is. While Taylor's side only really tested the hosts in the final match of the tour, McCullum anticipated a much tougher affair against South Africa.

"This was a good test before the South Africa series. We've tried to be hard on ourselves and maintain that ruthless streak, so we will now wait and see if we can follow through with that against South Africa," he added.

Named Man of the Match for his whirlwind half-century, Franklin was pleased to cash in on his return to the XI. Picked ahead of Martin Guptill, rested after five consecutive half-centuries against the Zimbabweans, the all-rounder bounced back from a dropped catch earlier in the day to fetch his highest T20I score.

"That was my first hit in a couple of weeks, so I was pleased to get a few hit out of the middle. The first few overs were hard work, but we knew that if we got through that and waited, the runs would come," enthused Franklin. "I expect a demotion, though, with Guptill coming back soon."

Zimbabwe's innings was built on the back of a 76-run alliance between Stuart Matsikenyeri and Masakadza, 45-run partnership between Masakadza and Taylor and unbroken 79-run combination between Taylor and Elton Chigumbura. Although disappointed by the loss, defeated skipper Taylor acknowledged a great deal of improvement from his batsmen and looked forward to more of the same - and better - in future series.

"We showed what we can do if we keep wickets in hand. We can hold our heads up high here. The better side won, but the boys will be fairly happy with the effort. With the firepower they have, we were always going to be under pressure. Unfortunately it took this long for the batting to fire, hopefully we can take a leaf from this and repeat it in the future," concluded Taylor.