NZ v SA, 2nd ODI Review: Kiwis ride on Ross Taylor century to draw level

Ross Taylor, perhaps the senior-most batsman in the New Zealand squad went ahead and helped himself to what was an impressive show of batting on the day to help the Kiwis secure a win and draw themselves level on the series. This was also Taylor’s 17th ODI ton, something that puts him on top of the list as New Zealand’s highest century-maker. Only Martin Crowe, the late New Zealand skipper had 17 as far as New Zealand cricket is concerned.

While Taylor wrote himself in history as well as the record books, the fact of the matter was that this was yet another scintillating encounter between the two. As the previous encounter had gotten over with one ball to spare, this time, it was Andile Phehlukwayo who was once again in the thick of things as one of South Africa’s best finishers. Dwaine Pretorious was also perhaps one of those who ensured that the win was indeed on the cards, only for some terrific death bowling from Tim Southee to close out the encounter.

Having lost the toss, the Proteas were lucky to have gotten the wicket of Tom Latham whose problems continued as he was dismissed for two. A bit of a partnership was brewing over the horizon before Dean Brownlie lost his wicket soon after. However, this ensured that there would indeed be a 104-run partnership between two of the best batsmen in the side at the moment.

Both players batted with incredible batting acumen while it would eventually be Ross Taylor’s day with the bat. However, one must certainly not forget the contribution of Kane Williamson who impressed quite a bit with 69 before being snapped up by Imran Tahir. Neil Broom also could not get his act together on the day as he went ahead and ensured that it would all come down to James Neesham to bring an epic close to the innings.

While Neesham blasted an audacious 71, it was Taylor who would remain till the very end and ensure that the score was at 289, something that was indeed a big score at the time. It would also take a herculean effort to ensure that the Proteas would keep their winning streak going.

The initial part of the innings saw the wickets tumble like a pack of cards as Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis were dismissed early on in the innings. However, it was the brilliance of Quinton de Kock who went ahead and began to smack the ball and begin to forge a partnership with his skipper AB de Villiers. While de Villiers was indeed playing an important hand, it would certainly be wrong to forget the contribution of JP Duminy.

Dwaine Pretorious was perhaps one of the last hopes as far as the Proteas were concerned while the fact was also quite clear that there was some batting left to come from Andile Phehlukwayo. With two overs to spare, it seemed as though the visitors did indeed have a chance of winning. However, this was also something of a crisis moment as Trent Boult cleaned up Pretorious. The latter had done quite well to ensure that he had slammed a half-century from just the 27 deliveries, but now, it was down to Andile Phehlukwayo.

The young pacer required just the 15 runs from the final over, but managed just 8 after Tim Southee’s excellent bowling including four dot balls in the final over, something that is quite unheard of in recent times to say the least.

Brief Scores:

New Zealand: 289/4 in 50 overs (R Taylor 102*; D Pretorious 2/40)

South Africa: 283/9 in 50 overs (Q de Kock 57; T Boult 3/63)