WELLINGTON: Wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi's battling 99 spared New Zealand's blushes as the Black Caps scrambled to 230 all out in the first one-day international against South Africa on Tuesday.
The Proteas' vaunted bowling attack had threatened to rip through the hosts' batting line-up before Ronchi combined with paceman Trent Boult for an unlikely stand of 74, setting a New Zealand record for a 10th-wicket partnership in the process.
New Zealand, in their first ODI since January, looked rusty at the crease, while the match-fit South Africans were sharp but struggled to snuff out the innings as Ronchi was caught just short of his century and Boult ended on 21 not out.
South Africa's attack shared the honours, with Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir and Ryan McLaren all taking two wickets apiece, while wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock excelled with five catches and a stumping.
The Black Caps opened cautiously after losing the toss and being sent in to bat, with Jimmy Neesham waiting until the third over to score the first boundary.
The all-rounder, who moved up the order to cover for injured opener Kane Williamson, lasted less than 30 minutes before Philander coaxed an outside edge to wicketkeeper de Kock to dismiss him for 16.
Martin Guptill (5) fell in an identical manner four overs later, bringing skipper Brendon McCullum to the crease.
With typical aggression, McCullum smashed successive sixes off Philander in a bid to lift the run rate with Dean Brownlie, only for his partner to fall for 24 to spinner Tahir.
Morkel piled on the agony with two wickets in successive balls in the next over, the first when McCullum (16) miscued a short-pitched delivery to Tahir, then following up by shattering Corey Anderson's stumps for a golden duck.
Ronchi and Tom Latham set about rebuilding the innings, bringing up their 50-run partnership in eight overs to put New Zealand at 124-5 at the half-way mark.
De Kock pounced to stump Latham (29) when the batsman strayed out of his crease trying to play JP Duminy.
Veteran Dan Vettori then made an unhappy return after 16 months out injured, facing just two balls before Tahir trapped him lbw for a duck.
Ronchi continued to run out of partners and New Zealand slumped to 9-156, with not much expected when Boult arrived at the crease boasting a previous ODI high score of five.
The paceman dug in, even managing a six off Morkel, helping New Zealand to a modest, yet potentially defendable, total.
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