South Africa trounced New Zealand by eight wickets Wednesday, led by a Morne Morkel five-wicket haul and 92 runs from Hashim Amla, to seal victory in their One-day series with a game to spare. The victory at McLean Park in Napier hands the tourists an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODIs, and after taking the earlier Twenty20 series 2-1 they hold a commanding psychological advantage over New Zealand ahead of the looming Tests.
New Zealand were sent into bat and at 131 for one were heading for a competitive 300-plus total before a spectacular collapse saw them all out for 230 in the 48th over. Morkel, who had none for 33 off his first seven overs, produced a devastating late spell, taking five wickets for five runs in 15 balls to wrap up the innings with a man-of-the-match performance. He twice found himself on the verge of claiming a hat-trick as New Zealand squandered a strong start on a wicket tailer-made for batting.
South Africa's batsmen made the best of the favourable conditions, quickly scoring at better than six an over as they cruised to 231 for four in the 39th over. Captain AB de Villiers warned New Zealand there would be no let up in the final ODI in Auckland on Saturday as he looked for a clean sweep.
"We wouldn't like to lose one. We did in the previous series against Sri Lanka going up 3-0 and winning the series 3-2 so it's a big anti climax to do it like that," he said. His New Zealand counterpart Brendon McCullum, cut a dejected figure after his side's failure to again to cash in on a strong start. "It was definitely a 300 wicket, definitely from where we were midway through the innings, but Morne ripped the heart out of us. From our point of view turning up 70 short of par is disappointing," he said.
Amla, who opened the innings with Jacques Kallis, faced 107 balls for his 92, which included 12 boundaries as he guided South Africa to victory. He was given a life on 58 when he skied leg spinner Tarun Nethula only for Rob Nicol to spill a regulation catch, but Nethula was to get his revenge when later he caught the edge of Amla's bat for Brendon McCullum to make no mistake. The final ODI is in Auckland on Saturday with the first of three Tests starting in Dunedin next Wednesday.
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Scoreboard New Zealand
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R. Nicol lbw Tsotsobe 11
M. Guptill c de Villiers b Kallis 58
B. McCullum c Ontong by Tsotsobe 85
K. Williamson c Kallis b Tsotsobe 13
J. Ryder c de Villiers b Steyn 0
J. Franklin b M. Morkel 6
A. Ellis c Steyn b M. Morkel 19
K. Mills c Peterson b M. Morkel 0
T. Southee c Steyn b M. Morkel 28
T. Nethula b M. Morkel 0
A. McKay not out 0
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Extras: (lb 5, w 5) 10
Total: (all out; 47.3 overs) 230
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Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-131, 3-163, 4-175, 5-179, 6-184, 7-184, 8-221, 9-221, 10-230
Bowling: Tsotsobe 10-0-43-3 (1w), Steyn 10-1-37-1 (2w), M. Morkel 9.3-1-38-5, J. Morkel 3-0-30-0, Peterson 8-0-43-0 (2w), Kallis 6-0-32-1, Duminy 1-0-2-0
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South Africa
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H. Amla caught McCullum b Nethula 92
J. Kallis c McCullum b Mills 4
F. de Plessis c Guptill b Ellis 34
JP Duminy c & b Nethula 43
AB de Villiers not out 31
J. Ontong not out 17
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Extras: (b 2, lb 2, w 6) 10
Total: (4 wickets; 38.2 overs) 231
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Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-80, 3-167, 4-192
Did not bat: J. Morkel, R. Peterson, D. Steyn, M. Morkel, L. Tsotsobe Bowling: Mills 6.2-1-41-1 (1w), Southee 8-0-61-0, McKay 10-1-45-0, Ellis 3-0-16-1, Nethula 10-0-60-2 (1w), Nicol 1-0-4-0
Man of the match: Morne Morkel
Toss: South Africa
Series: South Africa 2-0
Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Gary Baxter (NZL)
TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI).
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