South Africa v New Zealand, 3rd ODI - 5 Talking Points

South Africa v New Zealand, 3rd ODI – 5 Talking Points: After the series got squared at 1-1, it was the decider match between South Africa and New Zealand in the third ODI. South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first. As it happened, South Africa did put up a massive total of 283 runs on the board. It was not going to be an easy chase for New Zealand. New Zealand did not manage to put up a good start to the chase and kept on losing wickets which made things tougher for them. Ultimately, it resulted in a comprehensive victory for South Africa by 62 runs.

To sum it up, here we have South Africa v New Zealand, 3rd ODI – 5 Talking Points:

1. Sensational opening partnership for South Africa:

Morne Van Wyk and Hashim Amla did put up a strong partnership for the first wicket. The opening partnership contributed a total of 89 runs for the team. Van Wyk scored a perfect knock of 58 runs with 4 fours and 2 sixes. Also, Amla scored a brilliant knock of 44 runs. This opening partnership did provide a catalytic boost to the South African line up.

2. AB de Villiers’ fiery knock:

Just what he is known for, AB de Villiers did play a stunning knock of 64 runs off 48 deliveries in the match. Coming in to bat in the 22^nd over of the innings, De Villiers did pace up the South African innings decently well and kept the scoring rate in tact for the team. He did pace up the score of the South African line up in the middle overs and himself struck a half century. De Villiers scored 64 runs off 48 deliveries with 8 fours and a six.

3. Poor start to the New Zealand innings:

Chasing down a total of over 280 runs, New Zealand did require a sensational start from their opening pair. Martin Guptill and Tom Latham opened the innings for the team. Unfortunately, Guptill was dismissed by Steyn right in the 5^th over of the innings when New Zealand were poised with just 18 runs on the board. This blow did put New Zealand on the back foot in the chase.

4. Sensational fast bowling spells from the Proteas:

Defending a huge total of over 280 runs, it required some decent spells of bowling to carve South Africa’s path to victory. Indeed, it was a deadly bowling show, led by Dale Steyn. Steyn managed to take a single wicket in his 10 overs and conceded just 41 runs. While, Kagiso Rabada took 2 wickets against 33 runs, followed by 3/58 from David Wiese.

5. Kiwi middle order collapse:

After losing the first wicket early on, Latham and Williamson did make the South African innings steady. But after the dismissal of Williamson in the 24^th over of the innings, wickets kept falling for them in a hurry. In fact, from being at a stage of 102/1, New Zealand were reduced to a situation of 156/6 in 35 overs. None of the batsmen in the likes of Eliott and George Worker did manage to contribute much to the total.