The Black Caps have opened their tour of South Africa on a
winning note, beating South Africa A by 24 runs in
Pietermaritzburg.
Newcomers stood out for the Black Caps with Colin Munro top
scoring (39) as New Zealand made 140-8 on a slow pitch.
Mitchell McClenaghan then took 3-19 as South Africa A reached
116-9 in reply.
A superb opening spell from McClenaghan got the defence off
to a great start, with the fast bowler picking up a wicket in
each of his first three overs.
The left-armer was simply unplayable at times, with his pace
too much for Davy Jacobs and Stiaan van Zyl who were both
bowled out while his third victim, Dane Vilas, was caught
behind.
Spinner Ronnie Hira was also dangerous, removing opener
Mangaliso Mosehle and the experienced Justin Ontong before
collecting the late wicket of Hardus Viljoen.
South Africa's Vaughn van Jaarsveld resisted with a
run-a-ball 43 but was unable to find support. The next best
contribution came from number 11 batsman Aaron Phangiso who
clubbed 17 off the final over.
McClenaghan ended with impressive figures of three for 19
while Hira returned three for 35.
Earlier, the loss of early wickets hampered the New Zealand
run-rate but Brendon McCullum stuck around to make 32 off 28
and build a run-scoring platform.
Munro gave the innings momentum through the middle stages,
slamming four boundaries and two sixes on his way to the
side's top score of 39 off 27 deliveries.
Nathan McCullum produced a late cameo, smacking an unbeaten
22 off 15 and Jimmy Neesham helped close out the innings with
13 runs off seven deliveries.
The slow bowlers struggled to contain the New Zealand batsmen
with Roelof van der Merwe going for 40 runs off his full
complement while fellow spinner Justin Ontong bled 11 runs
off his only over.
Fast bowler Kyle Abbott was the best for South Africa taking
four for 16 off four overs.
The Black Caps begin a three-match Twenty20 series against
South Africa on Saturday morning (NZT).
New Zealand 140-8 (C Munro 38, B McCullum 32, N McCullum 22;
K Abbott 4-16) beat South Africa A (V van Jaarsveld 43; M
McClenaghan 3-19, R Hira 3-35) by 24 runs.
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