South Africa v New Zealand 3rd ODI review: South Africa secure facile victory to clinch series

Published - 27 Aug 2015, 13:03 IST | Updated - 27 Aug 2015, 13:03 IST

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South Africa v New Zealand 3^rd ODI review: South Africa secure facile victory to clinch series: South Africa secured a comfortable win against New Zealand in the 3^rd and deciding ODI at Durban to win the series 2-1. New Zealand wasn’t even able to pose a substantial challenge, as the visitors lost the game by 62 runs after being bowled out for a paltry 221. Apart from Latham none of the Kiwi batsmen put up a worthy show.

Earlier, after South Africa opted to bat first, the openers Amla and van Wyk brought up their first 50+ stand in the series. An early dolly drop of van Wyk at fine leg by Bracewell definitely helped the cause. He pounced on the opportunity and registered his 4th ODI fifty which was steady but far from comfortable as he was uncharacteristically slow. Amla was sublime at the other end as he rotated the strike with ease. South Africa maintained a run-rate of around 4.3 until the 20th over.

Two quick wickets fell as Amla was caught and bowled by Elliott, who found appreciable swing and seam movement to trouble the batsmen throughout, and Wheeler nicked out another left-hander in Rossouw. AB de Villiers looked edgy early on but got into his groove as he reached 8000 ODI runs in the process and eventually to a breezy ODI fifty. Bracewell dismissed AB for 64 as South Africa received a huge jolt in the death overs. Miller provided good support at the other end before edging Adam Milne behind to the keeper. Some good shots and a positive intent from Behardien took South Africa to 283 in the 50 overs which was a competitive total on the Durban pitch. New Zealand were a combination of sloppiness and genius in the field as they dropped as many as four catches but stopped a few boundaries throwing themselves around.

Also read: South Africa v New Zealand, 3rd ODI – 5 Talking Points

The chase didn’t begin too well for the visitors. Dale Steyn struck in the fifth over and dismissed Guptill early to put New Zealand on back foot. Williamson and Latham played cautiously as they brought up a 50-run stand for the 2nd wicket. Williamson was dropped twice and Steyn messed up a catch at long-on but they didn’t prove to be too costly as he charged down to a Tahir googly and was bowled. Latham notched up his third consecutive fifty of the series, playing some gorgeous shots but couldn’t carry on as a superlative under-arm throw from Miller found him short of his crease.

Wiese chipped in with two wickets as he cleaned up Worker and got the World Cup semi-final hero Elliott caught by Rabada at deep square leg. With the run-rate climbing and most of the recognized batsmen back in the hut, New Zealand dragged on but only managed to take the already lost game a bit deeper. Although South Africa’s fielding was just as poor as the tourists, they made sure they picked up wickets at regular intervals and did not give New Zealand time to settle. Wiese and Tahir were simply outstanding while the others also played their part. With the convincing victory South Africa not only sealed the series 2-1 but also displaced New Zealand from the third spot in the ICC ODI rankings to secure it themselves.