Proteas scramble to win over Kiwis
• Proteas scramble to one-day win over Kiwis with last-gasp run flurry
“Not for a second were we in control‚” is not the kind of thing winning captains tend to say‚ but SA’s four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first one-day international in Hamilton on Sunday was not an ordinary kind of game. So AB de Villiers’s assertion was understandable.
“Not for a second were we in control‚” is not the kind of thing winning captains tend to say‚ but SA’s four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first one-day international in Hamilton on Sunday was not an ordinary kind of game.
So AB de Villiers’ startling assertion was understandable.
Minutes before‚ De Villiers had to make sense of Tim Southee bowling off-spin at just a touch lower than his normal blistering pace.
Southee’s deliveries bounced like missiles and spat like snakes off a surface offering more turn than an electric screwdriver.
“I didn’t see the ball turn that much when we bowled [in New Zealand’s total of 207/7]‚” De Villiers said.
That in a match reduced by rain to 34 overs aside.
“Early on with the new ball it wasn’t so bad‚ but it’s easy to say that now. It would have sounded like an excuse if we’d lost.”
Instead‚ De Villiers watched as Andile Phehlukwayo heaved sixes off Trent Boult and Southee that had much to do with SA’s scramble to success with a ball remaining.
De Villiers and Phehlukwayo took byes to the wicketkeeper off the first two balls of a final over in which they needed two runs per ball. The second of those deliveries was converted into two wides after a ripper from Southee steepled high enough over De Villiers’ head to be ruled illegal.
Control? Control is what happens when things go according to plan. Sunday was not one of those times.
“Experience-wise it was 10 out of 10 to be put under pressure like that with the bat‚” De Villiers said. “Conditionswise? Nought out of 10.
“I don’t think we’re going to face any conditions like that in the UK,” he said.
Which is where the Champions Trophy will be played in June‚ when De Villiers hopes the preparation his team will gather in their five ODIs in New Zealand will be put to good use.
“The belief is definitely there [within the squad]‚” De Villiers said. “I won’t look into it any deeper than that.
“We have great team spirit‚ which makes it a lot easier on tour. But I won’t analyse it too much,” he said.
Quinton de Kock — who hit nine fours and a six in his 69‚ the top score in the match — and Hashim Amla put on 88 for SA’s first wicket.
But the rest of the top six‚ De Villiers excepted‚ struggled to come to terms with a slow‚ sticky‚ spinning surface.
Chris Morris felt both sides of cricket’s double-edged sword in New Zealand’s innings.
Morris trapped Tom Latham in front before dismissing both Doug Brownlie and Ross Taylor in one over and Neil Broom in his next.
But Morris’s figures‚ which read 4/24 when he had Broom caught at square leg with the last ball of his fifth over‚ ballooned to 4/62 when his last two overs bled 38 runs.
Two sixes and three fours flew off the final over of the innings‚ bowled by Morris‚ that went for 25.
The late blast was delivered by Colin de Grandhomme and Southee‚ who shared 51 runs off 23 balls for the unbroken stand.
That was the only partnership of 30 or more aside from a second-wicket effort of 50 by Brownlie and Kane Williamson.
New Zealand’s captain stood firm while Morris removed Brownlie‚ Taylor and Broom for the addition on the scoreboard of only 13 runs‚ and scored 59.
“That was a great win‚ but there’s lots of games left in the series and we know it’s nowhere near done,” said De Villiers. The next of them is in Christchurch on Wednesday.