| South Africa team | |
| GC Smith, Q de Kock†, CA Ingram, F du Plessis*, F Behardien, R McLaren, DA Miller, RK Kleinveldt, LL Tsotsobe, DW Steyn, AM Phangiso | |
| New Zealand team | |
| BJ Watling, MJ Guptill, BB McCullum*†, C Munro, KS Williamson, JEC Franklin, NL McCullum, GD Elliott, JDS Neesham, KD Mills, MJ McClenaghan | |
New Zealand 260/9 (50 ov)
South Africa 264/9 (50.0 ov)
South Africa won by 1 wicket
New Zealand Innings - Close
Runs
|
Balls
|
4s
|
6s
| |||
| Guptill | c Ingram | b Tsotsobe |
5
| 18 | 1 | 0 |
| Watling | c Du Plessis | b McLaren |
20
| 40 | 2 | 0 |
| Williamson | c de Kock | b Tsotsobe |
6
| 17 | 1 | 0 |
| Elliott | c Steyn | b Tsotsobe |
54
| 67 | 8 | 0 |
| B McCullum | c Steyn | b McLaren |
13
| 25 | 1 | 0 |
| Munro | c de Kock | b Tsotsobe |
57
| 62 | 6 | 1 |
| Franklin | not out |
53
| 52 | 3 | 1 | |
| N McCullum | c de Kock | b McLaren |
2
| 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Neesham | lbw | b McLaren |
13
| 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Mills | run out (Du Plessis) |
7
| 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| McClenaghan | not out |
2
| 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | 17w 1b 10lb | 28 | ||||
| Total | for 9 | 260 | (50.0 ovs) | |||
New Zealand 260 for 9 (Munro 57, Elliott 54, Franklin 53*, Tsotsobe 4-45, McLaren 4-52) v South Africa
A solid recovery from New Zealand's middle order lifted them to 260 for 9 in the final ODI. Grant Elliott, Colin Munro and James Franklin hit half-centuries as South Africa again struggled to close out an innings efficiently after Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Ryan McLaren had taken four wicket apiece.
As has often been the case the top order failed, but New Zealand have shown grit during this series and retain hope of completing a notable whitewash. When Brendon McCullum was caught at third man New Zealand were limping along at 68 for 4 in the 22nd over, but a stand of 61 between Elliott and Munro gave them a base then James Franklin ended unbeaten on 53, reaching his fifty with a six off the penultimate ball of the innings.
Elliott was initially the more confident, however Munro grew as his innings progressed and at one stage lofted Dale Steyn for six having already taken debutant Aaron Phangiso for three boundaries in an over during a maiden international fifty. Munro had been given lbw against McLaren when he had 2 but he correctly reviewed as the ball had pitched outside leg and also took an inside edge.
Eventually, however, both batsmen fell to Tsotsobe: Elliott was the second wicket to the innings to be caught at third man and Munro edged a slower ball. New Zealand, though, benefited from their deep batting order which has been key throughout this series. This time it was Franklin, as he did in the first match, to squeeze priceless runs in the latter stages.
Losing regular wickets meant Franklin could not cut loose, but he took the innings as deep as he could with some smart batting. He managed to keep the strike after the ninth wicket fell in the 48th over and the final 11 balls of the innings brought 26 runs.
The closing period was also notable for South Africa scurrying between deliveries as the over-rate again became a problem. They were, at rough estimates, about five down on the requirement and were not helped by the wides that were sent down.
There was a familiar pattern to the start of the innings. Martin Guptill's awful series continued when he edged to slip for 5 having made ducks in his previous two innings. Aside from his century in the second Twenty20 and battling 48 in the second Test it has been a desperate tour for Guptill.
Tsotsobe had his tail up and gave Guptill a little send-off, then continued to keep the pressure on the top order along with Steyn and Rory Kleinveldt. The hero of the previous match, Kane Williamson, could not produce a repeat and fell to a bottom edge as he tried to cut a very wide delivery the ball after top edging a pull down to third man.
BJ Watling worked hard to try and give the innings a foundation, but having reached 20, got a leading edge trying to play to the leg side and offered a catch to point off McLaren. McCullum has moved himself around the batting order during this tour, trying to shore up the various weaknesses in the New Zealand line-up, but has underperformed. On this occasion, he had time to build an innings, but having played studiously for 24 deliveries he upper-cut McLaren towards third man where Steyn barely had to move to take the catch.
SA 264/9 50 ovs
South Africa Innings - Close
FOW: De Kock 1/83, Ingram 2/122, Du Plessis 3/165, Behardien 4/174, Miller 5/205 Smith 6/229, Kleinveldt 7/237, Phangiso 8/251, Steyn 9/258
25 over report: South Africa were well-placed to avoid there first one-day whitewash at home as they reached 116 for 1 at the midway point of the chase in Potchefstroom. Graeme Smith and Quinton de Kock added 83 for the first wicket and Smith continued to register back-to-back half-centuries.
New Zealand will remember the South Africa collapse in the second match when the home side had appeared comfortably on course for victory and James Franklin broke the opening stand when de Kock bottom-edged a pull into his stumps. After that New Zealand managed to exert some pressure through Nathan McCullum.
De Kock had given glimpses of the strokeplay that has got people excited with boundaries on both sides of the wicket. But it his off-side shots that often stand out and twice he stood tall to pierce the gap between cover and point before slightly misjudging the length of Franklin's delivery.
Smith, meanwhile, pushed himself into third place in the list of all-time run-scorers for South Africa in one-day cricket now behind just Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs. His first boundary had a stroke of luck when he got an inside edge past the stumps against Mitchell McClenaghan who has caused him problems during the series.
However, he was given plenty of deliveries to work through his favourite leg side, both backward and in front of square, and there was also the rare appearance of a cover drive on his way to a 64-ball fifty.
Nathan McCullum produced a tight spell with his offspin to ensure South Africa did not race away with the chase. Colin Ingram found it difficult to rotate the strike and the target could yet prove testing for an inexperienced middle order.
50 over report: South Africa nearly messed up another run chase, but Ryan McLaren's six off the final ball ensured they avoided their first limited-overs whitewash on home soil by securing a gripping one-wicket victory in Potchefstroom. Graeme Smith's tenth ODI hundred was guiding the innings only for another uncertain display from the middle and lower order to ensure the game was never dead and it came down to needing three off the last ball.
James Franklin, who the ball before had Dale Steyn caught at deep midwicket, tried to bowl wide of off stump and McLaren responded by scooping him over fine leg. Still, while the crowd went wild, South Africa's celebrations, after the initial relief, were muted as they have still come second best in this series and, barring Smith, their batting performance was again one to raise concerns.
New Zealand never gave up and deserve immense credit for how they have turned their fortunes around during this one-day series. For a side that fielded outstandingly, though, they will regret one moment when McLaren, on 6, was dropped at deep midwicket by Jimmy Neesham who approached the catch far too casually.
While Smith was at the crease the chase, while never simple, was under control. He had brought up his hundred with consecutive boundaries off Kane Williamson but attempting to loft the same bowler down the ground picked out long-on with 32 still needed from 26 balls. Rory Kleinveldt and Aaron Phangiso then both fell swinging across the line at Mitchell McClenaghan to set up the grandstand final over where eight were needed with two wickets in hand.
But Smith's innings deserved to be a matchwinner. During the course of his 130-ball stay he moved second in the list of all-time run-scorers for South Africa in ODIs, now just behind Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs. Early on he was given plenty of the pads to pick off, but the cover drive, not often a shot associated with Smith, twice made an appearance.
His opening stand of 83 with Quinton de Kock laid the ideal base to chase 260 but after de Kock misjudged his pull against Franklin the innings stalled as New Zealand applied pressure. Nathan McCullum's offspin was hard to score off and when South Africa called for the Powerplay in the 27th over Colin Ingram pulled the first ball of it to midwicket.
More loose shots follow, with Smith watching on from the other end. Faf du Plessis also picked out midwicket against Kyle Mills, Farhaan Behardien chipped a catch back to Williamson who did well to hold on while colliding with Smith and David Miller played a hot-headed hoick across the line shortly after Smith had reached his hundred. At 205 for 5 in the 42nd over New Zealand were back in contention and when they removed Smith the whitewash was on the cards, but McLaren managed to keep his cool.
New Zealand had earlier recovered impressively to reach 260 after familiar problems at the top of the order left them 68 for 4 with Grant Elliott, Colin Munro and Franklin hitting half-centuries. South Africa will again be concerned about how they could not finish off an innings with the ball as well as they had started.
Elliott, who played an important innings in Kimberley, began binding the innings. Munro grew as his stay progressed at one stage lofted Steyn for six having already taken debutant Phangiso for three boundaries in an over during a maiden international fifty. He had been given lbw against McLaren when he had 2 but he correctly reviewed as the ball had pitched outside leg and also took an inside edge.
Eventually, however, both batsmen fell to Lonwabo Tsotsobe who had made the early breakthroughs with the new ball. Elliott was the second wicket of the innings to be caught at third man and Munro edged a slower ball. New Zealand, though, benefited from their deep batting order which has been key throughout this series. South Africa, who were again slow with their overs but escaped punishment from match referee David Boon, also gave a helping hand by conceded 17 wides.
Losing regular wickets meant Franklin could not cut loose, but he took the innings as deep as he could with some smart batting. He managed to keep the strike after the ninth wicket fell in the 48th over and the final 11 balls of the innings brought 26 runs, including a six off the penultimate delivery to reach his fifty. It was enough to set up an engrossing finish.
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