1st ANZ ODI - In Short
It was the Heartbreak Hotel Hamilton for the BLACKCAPS on Sunday as they lost on the penultimate ball of a 34-overs-a-side ODI epic.
South African captain AB de Villiers (37*) guided his side to the 208 run target with four wickets to spare, after the BLACKCAPS bowlers triggered a mid-innings run chase collapse.
Proteas opener Quinton de Kock was named man of the match for his quick-fire 69, but the visitors early hard work was almost completely undone when they lost four wickets in 14 balls through the middle.
The teams now relocate to Christchurch for Wednesday's second ANZ ODI at Hagley Oval.
BLACKCAPS
DG Brownlie, TWM Latham (wk), KS Williamson (c), LRPL Taylor, NT Broom, JDS Neesham, MJ Santner, C de Grandhomme, TG Southee, IS Sodhi, TA Boult
More moisture
Rain seems to follow the BLACKCAPS. The New Zealand summer continued its minor tantrum in Hamilton on Sunday, with regular showers delaying the start and reducing the match to 34 overs per side. Big credit to the groundsmen, who fought over 160ml of rain this week to have the outfield ready for play.
Old pro
With Martin Guptill still out injured, Dean Brownlie is working hard to take his opportunity at the top of the order. Playing at his home ground, Brownlie took the attack to South Africa early on, with some lusty blows on his way to 31. On paper, not a huge contribution, but an important one to help get the wheels spinning at the top of the BLACKCAPS innings.
Morris a handful
The BLACKCAPS looked in good shape at 68-1, but Chris Morris’s second spell would see a significant swing in momentum. Troubling with his zip and bounce, the front-line paceman sent four of the BLACKCAPS top five back to the shed and had the hosts struggling at 82-4. Advantage South Africa.
#Steadytheship
Kane Williamson brought up his 28th half century off 48 balls in a typically classy knock. The skipper maintained an aggressive approach, as wickets fell around him and hit back to back boundaries from Tabraiz Shamsi, before undoing himself with a thick inside edge onto his stumps.
Stutter and splutter
The loss of regular wickets meant that Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner had to put the attacking shots away for a bit and set a platform for the end of the innings. Neesham in particular made a useful cameo appearance with 29, but more importantly faced enough balls to make sure the BLACKCAPS would see out their overs.
Flourish at the finish! 
The power of Colin de Grandhomme (34* off 19) and unpredictability of Tim Southee (24* off 13) came up big for the BLACKCAPS in the final overs. Their 50 run partnership in 23 balls was mana from heaven and included a big final over came which went for 25. It took the BLACKCAPS beyond 200 and deflated Morris’s figures a little - he finished with 4-62 from seven overs.
Santner surprise
Lovingly nicknamed Santa’s little helper by the boys from Alternative Cricket Commentary, Mitchell Santner surprised many at Seddon Park when he took the first over with the ball. Sure enough, the hometown product garnered some good turn and kept South Africa to just one run off the over.
Perfect pair
The class and elegance of Hashim Amla combined with the power and flair of Quinton de Kock. The Proteas opening pair have a great record and they once again made the early goings look easy. They breezed their way to 88 inside 16 overs as the game looked to be slipping away from the hosts.
Enter Kane 
Hallelujah, a wicket!
At 88-0 and with two players ranked in the top six batsmen in the world in full flow, it was fair to say the BLACKCAPS were on struggle streak. Williamson flighted one up to Amla and enticed a delightful wee caught and bowled. Bravo skip!
A golden period
Four wickets in 14 balls will change most matches. It started with Sodhi (7-1-36) trapping Faf du Plessis LBW and featured a wicket from Boult before a Tim Southee double strike had the Hamilton faithful on their feet. Southee's second wicket was one for the highlights reel, a sharp turing off spinner that spun about a foot (two feet if you ask Tim).
Down the stretch 
With four wickets in hand the equation coming home went as follows ... 34 off 24… 29 off 18… 22 off 12… 12 off 6… No one was leaving Seddon Park early. De Villiers may have eventually struck the winning boundary off Tim Southee's penultimate ball, but it was relative rookie Andile Phehlukwayo who was the undercover hero. He struck a six in each of the last two overs to put the Proteas on the brink.
Move on
Another Hamilton humdinger for the BLACKCAPS and for a change they came out on the wrong side. Their characteristic fight and scrap was plain for all to see as they bowled themselves back into a match which looked gone. Plenty of positives to take heading into Christchurch where they will be desperate to square the series.
