Second Twenty20 International at Centurion, Pretoria: BLACKCAPS 177-7 in 20 overs (Guptill 60, Neesham 28) beat South Africa 145-8 in 20 overs (Behardien 36, Miller 29) by 32 runs
The BLACKCAPS fought back superbly to defeat South Africa by 32 runs at Centurion, levelling and ending the two-match Twenty20 International Series 1-1.
Scorecard
Thanks to a superb innings from Martin Guptill (an explosive 60 from 35 balls) and a quality finish from Jimmy Neesham (28 from 19) and Colin Munro in a seven-ball cameo worth 18 runs, the BLACKCAPS reached 177-7 in the first innings.
The Proteas would have required their best-ever chase in all their matches facing the BLACKCAPS to take a win, and the total soon looked insurmountable after they lost the big early wickets of Hashim Amla (caught on 14 after Adam Milne hit 153 kph), Morne van Wyk (who top-edged Mitchell McClenaghan to the keeper on 3) and skipper AB de Villiers (who had been in menacing touch with 15 off 9) inside the first seven overs.
It was a body blow to their run chase, the required RPO in double figures throughout the back half of their innings.
Jimmy Neesham takes the catch to dismiss Proteas star AB de Villers. Photosport.nz
Rilee Rossouw (26 from 23 balls) and Farhaan Behardien (36 from 27) fought valiantly in the middle order, but when they fell in successive overs, the BLACKCAPS were on top.
The double strike left David Miller as the Proteas' last danger man, until he was caught on the square leg boundary by Munro to stifle South Africa at 132-8.
McClenaghan removed the last significant hope when Miller was caught on 29. Photosport.nz
Five BLACKCAPS bowlers contributed to the wickets column, with breakthroughs at regular intervals. Ish Sodhi (2-27) and McClenaghan (2-28) finished with the best figures, but it was a tidy all-round effort with the ball, well backed up in the field by Kane Williamson and his men.
Earlier, Williamson had won the toss and elected to bat first.
The skipper (below) and man of the match Guptill got the BLACKCAPS off to another flier, with the the opener pair combining for an opening stand of 52 punched from just 5.3 overs.
Williamson hit 25 from 23 balls and brought up the 50 partnership with a six over square, before being captured at third man by Kyle Abbott off the demanding Kagiso Rabada – who would later go on to put himself on a hat-trick for the second time in consecutive matches.
Guptill carried on, though, showcasing some powerful hitting reminiscent of the BLACKCAPS' last tour to South Africa when he hit his maiden Twenty20 ton.
The 28-year-old wouldn’t bring up three figures on this occasion, but did notch his sixth half-century in International Twenty20, including a memorable straight six that was launched into the stratosphere off leg-spinner Eddie Leie.
The middle order took advantage of the platform that their openers had set, Neesham and Munro licensed to charge and helping push the BLACKCAPS close to 180 for a highly competitive total.
Munro crunched two fours and a big, straight six in a row as he took a big 19 off the 18th over.
Rabada struck back, then bowled Neesham to put himself on the hat-trick. Milne survived his brush with history and thumped a boundary off the final ball, the burst of late runs putting the BLACKCAPS firmly in the box seat.
It left South Africa with a target which they never truly threatened, resulting in a well-deserved BLACKCAPS victory, a good comeback win.
The drawn Series means the BLACKCAPS hold seventh spot on the ICC Twenty20 rankings, behind sixth-placed South Africa by just three points. The sides now prepare for the start of their One-Day International Series which begins on Wednesday night (NZ time).
Current ICC ODI rankings: BLACKCAPS 110 points, South Africa 109 points
· If NZ wins 3-0, then SA 107 pts, NZ 113 pts
· If NZ wins 2-1, then SA 109 pts, NZ 111 pts
· If SA wins 3-0, then SA 112 pts, NZ 107 pts
· If SA wins 2-1, then SA 110 pts, NZ 109 pts
· If the series is drawn 1-1, then SA 45 pts, NZ 110 pts
