South Africa's AB de Villers on his way to making 29.
REUTERS/Brendon O'Hagan
South Africa have a reputation for somehow losing the
eminently winnable but New Zealand proved they can do it, too,
when they lost the third and deciding Twenty20 cricket match at
Eden Park tonight.
New Zealand looked to be cruising to the victory target of
166 when they were 142 for three and needing less than a
run-a-ball but self-destructed to not only let the Proteas
back into the match but also snatch an unlikely win.
What seemed a comfortable chase turned decidedly
uncomfortable in quick fashion as New Zealand lost four
wickets with victory in sight. They often had only themselves
to blame and Jesse Ryder, who had played well to move through
to 52, was out trying to ramp spinner Johan Botha only to be
caught at short fine leg.
South Africa were also in a generous mood, with Marchant De
Lange overstepping on the final delivery of the match, when
six was needed, to give Tim Southee a chance to score a
boundary off his first ball to win the game on a free hit.
The match ended tamely when he swung wildly and missed,
leaving New Zealand three runs short on 162 for 7.
It was an unfortunate end for Southee, who had played such a
leading hand to get New Zealand in such a strong position.
He was decidedly quieter tonight verbally than Sunday in
Hamilton, even though he had more to talk about. His first
three over went for just nine runs and two wickets and,
although he went for 13 off his last, bowled with good pace
that troubled the batsmen.
He and Doug Bracewell weren't afraid to mix it up with short
deliveries, which hurried up the batsmen, and the runs dried
up at a period South Africa would normally look to
accelerate.
They were well backed up by some fielding that was often
quite brilliant at times, with Guptill pulling in a stunning
left-handed catch above his head at cover to dismiss John
Botha off Southee's bowling.
Nicol also somehow reeled in a full-blooded AB de Villiers
straight drive off his own bowling to run out a dangerous JP
Duminy, who had raced through to 38 off 20 deliveries.
South Africa never really got going after they lost Richard
Levi, who plundered 117 not out off just 51 balls in
Hamilton, early for just 11 and looked to be about 15-20 runs
short of a winning total.
It looked the case as New Zealand were quickly ahead of the
asking rate, which they needed to do given the fact rain
threatened all night.
Rob Nicol (33 off 19) and Martin Guptill (26 off 19) put on
65 for the first wicket in quick time and Ryder continued the
momentum. But Ryder should have stuck around to guide his
side home.
Instead, he left others to finish off the game when seven was
needed off the final over and two wickets fell as the New
Zealand batsmen struggled to get sufficient bat on ball.
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum said before the match
the game was a "pivotal moment'' in New Zealand's
already-successful summer.
The next month will reveal just how important it is.
South Africa
R Levi c Nicol b Franklin 11
H Amla c McCullum b Bracewell 33
J Morkel c Nicol b Southee 10
AB de Villiers b Nicol 29
J Duminy run out (Nicol) 38
J Ontong lbw Nicol 6
J Botha c Guptill b Southee 2
W Parnell not out 22
R Peterson not out 11
Extras (lb 1, wd 2, nb 0) 3
Total (for 7 wickets, 20.0 overs) 165
Fall: 1-20 (Levi), 2-39 (Morkel), 3-59 (Amla), 4-121
(Duminy), 5-129 (De Villiers), 6-130 (Ontong), 7-137 (Botha)
Bowing: R Hira 2-0-20-0 (1w), M Bates 3-0-29-0, J Franklin
2-0-23-1, T Southee 4-0-22-2, D Bracewell 4-0-28-1 (1w), N
McCullum 2-0-22-0, R Nicol 3-0-20-2
New Zealand
R Nicol c Levi b Morkel 33
M Guptill c Amla b Botha 26
J Ryder c Morkel b Botha 52
B McCullum c de Villiers b Peterson 18
K Williamson c Morkel b Morkel 6
J Franklin not out 9
N McCullum c de Villiers b de Lange 0
D Bracewell c Amla b de Lange 0
T Southee not out 0
Extras (lb 5, wd 12, nb 1) 18
Total (for 7 wickets, 20.0 overs) 162
Fall: 1-65 (Nicol), 2-73 (Guptill), 3-112 (McCullum), 4-142
(Williamson, 15.2) 5-158 (Ryder) 6-160 (McCullum), 7-160
(Bracewell)
Bowing: R Peterson 4-0-34-1, M de Lange 4-0-36-2 (2w, 1nb), J
Morkel 1-0-13-0 (1w), M Morkel 4-0-31-2 (2w), J Botha
4-0-20-2 (2w), W Parnell 1-0-14-0, J Duminy 2-0-9-0
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