NZ vs SA, 2nd ODI: New Zealand Beat South Africa In Thriller To Level Series
Feb 22, 2017 at 12:12 PM
New Zealand ended South Africa’s 12-match winning run in One-Day Internationals with a thrilling 6-run victory in the second match at Christchurch to level the five-match series 1-1.
Chasing an imposing 289, the Proteas suffered a big setback early on when Hashim Amla (10) and Faf du Plessis (11) were sent back cheaply. A 51-run stand between Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy brought their chase back on track but both the batsmen lost their wickets in quick succession to leave the visitors reeling at 124 for 4.
AB de Villiers (45) and David Miller (28) got starts but their failure to convert it into big scores left a lot for the lower-order batsmen. And the visitors were looking well out of the contest when they were reduced to 214 for 8 in the 42nd over. However, a 27-ball 50 from Dwaine Pretorius, who shared a 61-run stand with Andile Phehlukwayo for the ninth wicket, brought them right into the match before they eventually fell short by 6 runs to register a brilliant win.
Earlier, a century from Ross Taylor and fifties from Kane Williamson and James Neesham had propelled the hosts to 289 for 4 in the allotted 50 overs. After being asked to bat first by South Africa, the Black Caps began poorly as their opener Tom Latham departed after scoring only 2. However, his opening partner, Dean Brownlie was looking confident right from the start before his promising 34-run knock was ended by a poor umpiring decision. The right-handed batsman was given lbw to Dwaine Pretorius but the replays showed that the delivery was missing the leg stump.
A century-stand between Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor then steadied the ship for the home team before the New Zealand skipper was dismissed by Imran Tahir. But before that, he had set the platform for a big score with a 69-run knock. However, New Zealand were looking in danger of throwing away the good start when Neil Broom became Pretorius’ second victim to leave New Zealand reeling at 166 for 4.
But Taylor held firm from one end and shared an unbeaten partnership of 123-runs with Neesham to help his team score 289. Both the players took their time initially before breaking the shackles in the last 10 overs. Neesham’s unbeaten knock of 71 runs came off only 57 balls while Taylor’s record-breaking 102-run knock came off 110 balls. Taylor hit a boundary off the last of the innings to score his 17th ODI century that took him past Nathan Astle’s 16 ODI centuries.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the nerve-wrecking contest in Christchurch:
That @BLACKCAPS victory & @RossLTaylor century is the perfect tribute to the fallen #Christchurch #EarthquakeAnniversary#NZvSA
— ayesha (@m22haq) February 22, 2017
No fingernails left. Well done boys!! Ross Taylor is a bloody legend!! @BLACKCAPS Great Call by @TheACCnz
— Leo (@wellyboy123) February 22, 2017
Farhan Behardien is Shikhar Dhawan of #SA, 3 games he played #SA won all of them, today they dropped him and lost the game,#NZvSA
— Soochin 🏏 (@cricdrugs) February 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/soniqsky/status/834288208204660736
Pretorius most impressive and certainly a positive to take out of this match. #NZvSA
— Kass Naidoo (@KassNaidoo) February 22, 2017
De Kock has this tendency after reaching a mile stone he throws away his wicket as if he's job is done #ProteaFire #NZvSA
— Ledger Live support (@LedgerIive_) February 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/Swez_S/status/834287064233422848
As for Parnell , maybe for his franchise he bats well but for SA he has failed us time and time again #NZvSA #ProteaFire
— Ledger Live support (@LedgerIive_) February 22, 2017