New Zealand v South Africa 2nd ODI - 5 Talking Points

Ross Taylor’s historic century ended in a winning cause as the hosts New Zealand finally managed to stop the South African juggernaut in the 2nd ODI at the Hagley Oval. Being asked to bat first the Black Caps didn’t have a particularly good start with both the openers back in the hut by the time they had 53 runs on the board.

But despite posting 283 which is lower than the average score of the ground which is over 300 New Zealand managed to keep the hosts at bay and averted falling far too behind in the series and leveled it 1-1. Here are the talking points from the game.

1. Ross Taylor’s timely century

A hundred, one and another hundred this is Ross Taylor’s performance summary in his last three ODI outings. The smashing middle order batsman scored 107 vs Australia at Hamilton to equal Nathan Astel’s record of 16 ODI centuries; most by a Kiwi batsman. Today he bettered it with another fabulous knock.

Taylor walked in at a crucial time after both the openers had departed but he added two century stands with skipper Kane Williamson who scored 69 and Jimmy Neesham to take his team to a winning total. He was 5 runs short of his hundred in the last over and got there on the last ball. In the process, he also completed 6000 ODI runs.

Also check out- Twitter Reactions: Ross Taylor registers 17th ODI ton as New Zealand level series

2. Neesham fires down the order

After Williamson departed Taylor was looking for another partner but Neil Broom was dismissed for just 2; in walked James Neesham. The allrounder applied himself really well with Taylor smashing the ball from the other end. He played his shots as well and took off in the last ten overs. That ensured Taylor was not the only one scoring and thus put the South African bowlers under pressure.

Neesham would have felt the heat rising on him to take his performances a notch up and he responded with a decent knock. His 105-run 5th wicket partnership helped the Proteas keep the momentum going and eventually score the runs they did. With a life on 54, the allrounder remained unbeaten on 71 from 57 at the end of the inning.

3. Dwaine Pretorius the most successful of them all

27-year-old right-arm medium pacer Dwaine Pretorius was given the responsibility with the new ball by skipper AB de Villiers. He started off really well with the wicket of Black Caps opener Dean Brownlie. He allowed him just three balls before sending him back. It was a full delivery straightish and nipped back and hit Brownlie on the pads it was enough for the umpire to adjudge him out.

His second success came later in the innings when South Africa had finally managed to break the Taylor-Williamson partnership. Pretorius didn’t let Neil Broom settle down and deceived him with a slower ball which he cut straight to JP Duminy who was standing at point. Later the team also looked up to him to do something with the bat and the 6 ODI old allrounder didn’t disappoint.

He scored a half century when the wheels of the South African innings were really coming off; it was his effort that took them to inching distance from the target. He was the 9th wicket to fall for 50 off just 27 balls (4 boundaries and 2 sixes) and South Africa couldn’t score the 15 required in the last over.

4. QDK starts off with a half century

Quinton de Kock like he so often does gave his team a head start in the chase. He lost his partner Hashim Amla pretty early, he also saw Faf du Plessis walk back just when they had started to build the momentum together and the team total rolled over 50 after 10 overs. De Kock had a 50-run partnership with JP Duminy that gave some substance to chase and took them over the 100-run mark after 20 overs.

The southpaw hit 6 boundaries but was a rather sedate knock from him as he took 65 balls for his 57. He became Trent Boult’s first victim on the day as he was caught by Neesham with the team not even half way through the target.

5. Trent Boult’s triple strikes

Boult who was a couple of days ago picked for a whopping 5 crore by the Kolkata Knight Riders to represent them in the IPL was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers today. He struck thrice in the innings and were all meaty blows. He first sent back Quinton de Kock soon after his half century to jolt the Proteas momentum. He then bounced out AB de Villiers on 45 just as he looked to get dangerous batting on 45 from 49 balls. It was a slower bouncer and took an under edge from de Villiers bat and was safely caught by Tom Latham behind the wickets.

His third victim was also the most important Pretorius was threatening to seal the deal for his team with a fantastic half century but on the last ball of his spell Boult he clean bowled the batsman as he attempted to hit the ball out of the park. It was an attempted Yorker but ended up as a full toss that got him the desired result.