34 overs a side South Africa 210 for 6 beat New Zealand 207 for 7 by four wickets
South Africa equalled their best winning run in ODIs with a 12th victory on the bounce, but it was not achieved without plenty of jitters in Hamilton. There was no surprise to see AB de Villiers unbeaten at the end of a tight chase, but it was Andile Phehlukwayo who struck the crucial blows with sixes in the penultimate and last over - the latter bringing the requirement down to 3 off 4 balls - before de Villiers clubbed the winning boundary with one ball to spare.
South Africa started the penultimate over, bowled by Trent Boult, needed 22 and only one run came off the first two balls. But Phehlukwayo, showing great calmness as he had done alongside David Miller in the huge chase against Australia last year, picked up a slower ball to clear long-off and in the final over, with nine needed off five balls after a wide call against Tim Southee, he repeated the dose over long-on. As the ball sailed over the boundary, de Villiers gave a little punch of the air.
That New Zealand dug deep to push the game so close was a worthy effort because they had rarely been in control. Passing 200 seemed a tall order following Chris Morris' four top-order wickets and Kane Williamson's departure for 59, but Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee clubbed 51 off 23 balls for the eighth wicket.
Then in the chase, Quinton de Kock, who was reprieved by the DRS after an lbw decision on 18, and Hashim Amla added 88 for the first wicket and, although there was significant encouragement for the spinners - this was the same surface used for the Australia ODI earlier this month - they had everything well in hand. Even when Amla chipped a return catch to Williamson it seemed a mere irritant. However, that soon changed.
Faf du Plessis was lbw sweeping at legspinner Ish Sodhi, who was recalled for this match - his first ODI since the tour of India last October. Then, in the next over, de Kock, who had eased to fifty off 47 balls, gave his innings away with a weak pull that found midwicket. All of a sudden, New Zealand sensed a chance.
It was Southee who seized the moment. He found JP Duminy's leading edge with a delightful slower ball, but out-did himself with the next delivery when he cleaned up Farhaan Behardien with a magnificent off-cutter which bit off the surface to beat the inside edge. Morris steadied things for a while alongside de Villiers before picking out long-off, and New Zealand were just about favourites, with South Africa needing 52 off 44 and their lower-order exposed.
On 2, Phehlukwayo offered a very tough, low chance to Tom Latham behind the stumps off Southee and it felt like de Villiers or bust. However, on the eve of the match, de Villiers had spoken about the belief in the South Africa side and, with him in the middle to offer a calming hand, this was a fine example of what he was talking about.
Steady morning rain topped up an already saturated outfield - 120mm has fallen in the area over the last few days, from the same storms that went through Auckland - but the ground coped well and a 34-over match was a better result than may have been the case. Both captains opted for a second specialist spinner, and their judgement of the pitch proved astute. De Villiers later said how conditions were as tough as he had faced anywhere and, with hindsight, he would have batted first.
Morris got to work early after South Africa unsurprisingly opted to field, benefiting from the DRS when Latham was given lbw as he played around a delivery swung into him late. Morris' late movement had been a feature in the T20 at Eden Park and he again found movement at encouraging pace.
While the second-wicket stand between Dean Brownlie and Williamson was forming, New Zealand appeared reasonably secure. Imran Tahir was dealt with effectively, especially by Williamson who slog-swept him for six, but Morris' return had an immediate impact.
With his first ball back, he removed Brownlie, who lazily pulled to deep square leg have worked hard to play himself in, and before the over was out, Ross Taylor had also departed when he drove too early, bunting a return catch to Morris who was alert in his follow through. Smart planning and execution brought the fourth wicket when Neil Broom was hustled for pace by a shorter delivery that he was in no position to pull, and could only splice a catch to square leg.
Not for the first time, Williamson looked a class above. He added a second six over midwicket, this time off left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi, before moving to his fifty from 48 balls. Consecutive boundaries off Shamsi soon followed and New Zealand's ambitions were lifting, only for Shamsi to strike back with a delivery which spun into Williamson a touch, cramping his cut shot and finding a bottom edge into the stumps.
Short balls from Kagiso Rabada accounted for Santner and Jimmy Neesham, and the innings was threatening to end with a whimper. However, Morris' day took a turn for the worse as de Grandhomme and Southee cut loose, with some luck and some judgement, to bolster the total significantly. It gave New Zealand something to bowl at. And it almost proved enough.
2nd ODI
New Zealand 289/4 (50.0 ov)
South Africa 283/9 (50.0 ov)
New Zealand won by 6 runs
South Africa's lower order threatened another heist, but Trent Boult gave a glimpse of why he went for big money in the IPL by holding his nerve to help New Zealand secure a series-levelling six-run victory in Christchurch. Dwaine Pretorius' 26-ball fifty almost wrestled the game away from New Zealand until Boult got his yorkers on target in the penultimate over. He then cleaned up Pretorius to make amends for dropping him in the deep on 15.
The win should have been much more comfortable for New Zealand when South Africa slipped to 214 for 8, but after Pretorius was shelled he kept finding the boundary. It came down to needing 20 off two overs when Boult, who had earlier claimed the key scalps of Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers but conceded 15 off his ninth over, only went for five runs of his last. Andile Phehlukwayo was unable to locate the boundary early in the last over bowled by Tim Southee and South Africa's winning streak ended at 12.
It meant that Ross Taylor's record-breaking day did not come in vain. He became New Zealand's leading ODI century-maker, and the country's quickest batsman to reach 6000 runs in the process, while adding the innings-defining stand of 123 with Jimmy Neesham.
While Boult earned a mega payday 48 hours ago, Taylor was not picked in the auction: his T20 cricket is not valued by country or franchise at the moment. His absence from New Zealand's side has been a topic of much debate, but in the longer white-ball format he is playing as well as ever. He equalled Nathan Astle's 16 centuries against Australia, at Hamilton, earlier this month and went one better off the final ball of the innings when he drilled Wayne Parnell through the covers.
Taylor added 104 with Kane Williamson, their 11th century stand in ODIs, to set the base for the innings. Then, Neesham struck a timely 45-ball half-century which helped New Zealand add 89 in the final ten overs. The Hagley Oval pitch was slower than usual due to recent poor weather, so while five of the previous nine first-innings totals on the ground had been over 300, this one was more than workable.
However with David Miller back after his finger injury and Phehlukwayo at No. 10 (Kagiso Rabada was ruled out with a knee niggle), South Africa's batting order was even more imposing. But New Zealand kept chipping away. Southee produced an unplayable delivery to trap Hashim Amla lbw and Colin de Grandhomme nipped one back to defeat Faf du Plessis.
JP Duminy was sent in at No. 4 ahead of de Villiers - for tactical purposes it was said - but having eased to 34 he was beaten in the flight by Mitchell Santner: a chance for a match-defining innings had slipped away. The same could be said of de Kock, for the second match running, after he had glided to his fifty from 59 balls before heaving Boult deep into the leg side.
A hallmark of South Africa's winning streak has been having someone in the top order take responsibility for an innings but that wasn't the case in Christchurch. Miller, after his spell on sidelines, couldn't quite find his timing before edging Ish Sodhi's googly and de Villiers under-edged a pull against Boult in his first over back in the attack.
When Chris Morris was smartly run out by a back-handed flick from Dean Brownlie and Parnell lbw to Santner, there seemed very little chance for South Africa only for late drama. New Zealand would have struggled to recover if they had let this one slip away.
It had not been easy going for them when they were put in. Tom Latham's tricky run continued, softly clipping a leg-stump delivery from Parnell to square leg. It made his run in ODIs - since the 137 against Bangladesh on this ground - 2, 0, 0, 7, 4 and 22, potentially leaving him vulnerable when Martin Guptill returns from injury.
There was caution from Williamson and Taylor at the start of their partnership, but Williamson broke the shackles when he bunted Phehlukwayo over wide mid-on at the end of the 19th over. The next 11 overs brought 73 runs - Williamson reaching his second fifty of the series off 59 deliveries - to leave New Zealand with a strong platform of 155 for 2 after 30 overs.
The innings threatened to lose its way when Williamson picked out long-on against Imran Tahir and Neil Broom collected his second failure of the series to leave the onus very much on Taylor.
The boundary that took him to fifty off 60 balls also brought up the 6000-run milestone and alongside Neesham, whose position had been coming under scrutiny, they ensured the wobble did not become a collapse. Neesham was the first to take on the bowling inside the final ten overs, which helped take the pressure off Taylor, as he took on Tahir's last two overs and also played a blistering pull off Morris.
Taylor began the final over on 95 but lost the strike off the first ball and only got it back with two deliveries remaining. A meaty swing at the penultimate ball sent it sailing towards long-on where Miller took a fabulous catch but, sliding round the boundary, thought he would touch the rope and flicked the ball back so it became two runs. The final ball of the innings was wide outside off and Taylor thumped it through the covers to wild applause from the sellout crowd. They were cheering again a few hours later.
3rd ODI
South Africa 271 for 8 beat New Zealand 112 by 159 runs
AB de Villiers had called on his batsmen to take responsibility for an innings and he showed the way in Wellington as South Africa surged to a crushing 159-run victory. De Villiers' controlled 85, during which he became the fastest player to 9000 ODI runs, turned the tables after a middle-order slide, then the pace bowlers combined with unnerving accuracy to dismantle New Zealand for 112 in the 33rd over.
On a slower-than-normal pitch that offered assistance for seamers, especially in the evening, South Africa's 271 for 8 - bolstered by a seventh-wicket stand of 84 in 10.4 overs between de Villiers and Wayne Parnell - had the makings of a demanding chase and it soon proved that way.
Kagiso Rabada, back in the side after missing Christchurch, set the tone with an exemplary new-ball spell. He was followed by Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius who removed the cream of New Zealand's batting by nabbing Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in the space of five deliveries. The pair bowled nine overs between them in their first spells, returning figures of 4 for 16, in the sort of seam-friendly conditions that could be on show in the Champions Trophy. Pretorius finished with 3 for 5 from 5.2 overs.
New Zealand had entered this match buoyed by their batting performance at Hagley Oval, but this display will raise a few concerns as they fell in a heap in a manner not often seen. Tom Latham collected his third duck in four ODI innings and there was another failure for Neil Broom.
They had made one change, replacing legspinner Ish Sodhi with the pace of Lockie Ferguson and may ponder if that was correct after he went for 71 in his 10 overs - the most expensive bowling performance of the day.
Quinton de Kock, with his fifth 50-plus ODI score in a row, and Faf du Plessis led South Africa to 114 for 1 in the 23rd over but then followed a collapse of 5 for 66. Colin de Grandhomme gave New Zealand the control they strived for, claiming two wickets in four deliveries and bowling his 10 overs straight through, while Mitchell Santner produced another impressive performance of left-arm spin.
De Grandhomme removed du Plessis who riffled a drive low to mid-off, then in what is becoming a habit on this tour, de Kock picked out the leg-side field having set himself for a century. He hung his head and could barely drag himself off.
De Villiers was greeted by a hostile delivery from Ferguson which rammed into his gloves but quickly ticked off the five runs he needed to jump past Sourav Ganguly to top the 9000 list. However, senior batsmen came and went. JP Duminy, who had struggled for fluency, was run out by a direct hit from Tim Southee at backward point and David Miller chipped a low catch to midwicket which was upheld by the third umpire.
In each of the three matches in this series, someone from the lower order has stepped forward for South Africa. It wasn't Pretorius this time - he was bowled by Ferguson - but Parnell helped de Villiers stop New Zealand in their tracks.
De Villiers had been above a run-a-ball early in his innings, but bided his time as he lost partners for the closing overs. Back-to-back boundaries off Ferguson, rasping shots through midwicket and cover, hustled him through the 40s and the half-century came from 59 deliveries. He went from 39 off 51 balls to 85 off 80; it was not one of de Villiers' more explosive innings, but it was a masterclass in repairing damage, judging conditions and not overreaching.
And his efforts were soon put into context. Latham middled a square drive but picked out point. Dean Brownlie then feathered to the keeper off Rabada who found considered seam movement and proceeded to work over Williamson.
Williamson was dropped at slip on 4 by Hashim Amla off Parnell and alongside Taylor weathered the new balls for a period although scoring was always hard work and the pressure did not relent.
Phehlukwayo had conceded just four runs into his third over when Williamson, trying to dab the ball to third man, played into his stumps and in the next over, Taylor fell across a full, straight delivery from Pretorius. He was not far off walking for the lbw decision. The stuffing had been knocked out of New Zealand's innings and there was precious little else on offer. Broom's poke outside off against Phehlukwayo was a poor shot and Pretorius' miserly spell, as he nipped the ball around off the seam under the lights, also accounted for Mitchell Santner.
New Zealand's total was their lowest completed innings at home since being bowled out for 73 by Sri Lanka, in Auckland in 2007, and the result their heaviest runs defeat to South Africa.
4th ODI
New Zealand 280 for 3 beat South Africa 279 for 8 by seven wickets
Could Martin Guptill slot back into the New Zealand line-up after a month on the sidelines and make an immediate impact? The answer to that was an emphatic 'yes' as he surged to a ferocious 180 off 138 balls at Seddon Park to set up a series decider in Auckland on Saturday. His innings enabled New Zealand to chase down what had appeared a challenging target of 280 with a massive 30 balls to spare.
His 12th century in ODI cricket came from 82 deliveries after being saved by the DRS having been given lbw to Dwaine Pretorius on 62. Guptill dominated a third-wicket stand of 180 with Ross Taylor who made 66 off 97 deliveries, the joint second-highest for New Zealand and highest for any wicket against South Africa. Guptill finished with 11 sixes - at least four of them disappearing out of the ground - and now holds the three highest innings for New Zealand in ODIs after his 237 against West Indies in the World Cup and 189 against England in 2013.
South Africa will ponder their team selection and tactics with the ball. The fact that the pitch would aid the spinners, and likely grip for the seamers, had been telegraphed a long way out. Yet they opted not to play a second frontline spinner in Tabraiz Shamsi while JP Duminy's three overs cost 26 although AB de Villiers later defended the selection. They also did not bowl the amount of cutters and slower balls that New Zealand did mid-innings, instead the extra pace from their quartet of seamers played into New Zealand's - and Guptill's - hands.
With the bat it was a familiar pattern: a solid base (128 for 2), a middle-order collapse (4 for 30) and then a revival led by de Villiers and the lower order to take South Africa to 279. De Villiers, Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell plundered 100 from the last eight overs to seemingly swing the match in South Africa's favour. But then Guptill got to work.
He struck the ball with blistering power, belying his lack of match time, and the signs had been promising as early as the fourth over when he pulled Parnell onto the grass banks. He connected with an even bigger blow off Morris, speeding to his fifty off 38 deliveries and needing just another 44 for three figures. The ball rarely failed to make a thunderous crack off his bat.
Each time the asking rate threatened to edge much over a run-a-ball he would manage to go over or across the boundary. De Villiers didn't know how to stop him, a feeling many a bowler has felt against the South Africa captain. The nearest Guptill came to a problem, until a missed run out on 166 when the match had been won, was when he was struck on the helmet by Morris.
He overwhelmed the innings, but his partners were important. Kane Williamson helped add 72 for the second wicket as New Zealand got themselves ahead of the rate. He was also involved in, perhaps, the crucial decision of the innings. When given lbw to Imran Tahir's second ball he pondered the review but decided to walk off. Replays showed it was out. If Williamson had gambled, there would not have been one for Guptill.
Taylor then played the ideal second-fiddle, happy to ride in Guptill's slipstream, although brought his fifty up with a huge six over midwicket to match anything his partner managed.
New Zealand's selection was far more tailored to the surface with Jeetan Patel recalled, ahead of the unlucky Ish Sodhi, as a second spinner. He struck in the first over of the match when Quinton de Kock's run of five fifty-plus scores ended with his first golden duck in international cricket. There was an even more notable first, too, as a pair of spinners opened the bowling in the first innings of an ODI for the first time.
The move did not last long, though, and Hashim Amla enjoyed the extra pace of Trent Boult but New Zealand soon switched back to spin and pace-off. Patel nabbed Amla at the start of his second spell and New Zealand began to squeeze. Tim Southee and Jimmy Neesham bowled handy spells of cutters as South Africa lost 4 for 30 in 9.5 overs. JP Duminy's unconvincing series continued when he bottom-edged Southee, du Plessis chipped to midwicket after a 72-ball fifty, David Miller picked out deep midwicket while Pretorius was run out.
De Villiers was left to try and take the innings deep again. He was sitting on 27 off 37 balls, after a period of 12 boundary-less overs, when he pulled Mitchell Santner over deep midwicket to mark his late-overs kick. Both Southee and Boult came in for late punishment, but rather than providing a total to challenge New Zealand it just enabled Guptill to play one of New Zealand's finest one-day innings.
5th ODI
New Zealand 149 (41.1 ov)
South Africa 150/4 (32.2 ov)
South Africa won by 6 wickets (with 106 balls remaining)
South Africa's one-day side started in New Zealand as the No. 1 and they will end it there after an oscillating series went their way at a ground that now holds some good memories. There were a few jitters with the bat - there were bound to be, weren't there? - but after a commanding performance in the field, which sucked the life out of New Zealand's batting order, a target of 150 gave them breathing space.
From the moment that the hero of Hamilton, Martin Guptill, was defeated by Kagiso Rabada there was never any let-up from South Africa with the ball. Rabada was high-class on a surface offering more carry than any other in the series. Imran Tahir, who New Zealand have played well this series, then reeled off the most economical 10-over figures by a South Africa spinner - and the best by any spinner in an ODI in his country - as the innings almost came to a standstill.
Andile Phehlukwayo missed the Hamilton match with a minor groin injury and had a significant impact on his return with the wickets of Dean Brownlie and Ross Taylor. South Africa's ground-fielding also conjured two wickets, including the major scalp of Kane Williamson, as New Zealand's batting slumped for the second time in the series.
But they did not let their unbeaten one-day home record, dating back to South Africa's visit in 2014, go easily and for a moment mid-chase, another Eden Park classic was not complete fantasy. Jeetan Patel had snaffled two - and had an lbw against Faf du Plessis overturned by DRS - and when AB de Villiers was bounced out by James Neesham - not a dismissal you would have put your house on - South Africa were 88 for 4. But du Plessis, who reached fifty with the winning boundary, and David Miller, ensured against any further drama.
It was a superb set-up from Rabada, a sharp bouncer which ensured Guptill had to be wary of planting forward, then a yorker which he tried to advance to but only got in a horrid position with his stumps exposed. As ugly as Hamilton was breathtaking.
Williamson and Brownlie weathered the rest of the opening ten overs but a horror few minutes sent the innings into a spiral. It's a period Brownlie will want to forget. Firstly he decided to chance de Villiers' fielding at midwicket which left Williamson stranded when the South Africa captain dived and flicked in the blink of an eye. Williamson's bat got caught in the turf short of the crease, but he would have been short regardless.
Three balls later, Brownlie play round a full delivery from Phehlukwayo and almost walked before the finger was raised. Tahir's first four overs cost just four; eventually overs 10-20 brought 31 for 4. As in Wellington, Phehlukwayo was key to that, bowling wicket-to-wicket at brisk pace, and was rewarded again when Taylor fell across a straight one.
Luke Ronchi's stay was never convincing and he gloved a short ball as he tried to sway out of the line. Neesham, yesterday recalled to the Test squad, had looked as comfortable as any of the top order but for the second time in the series was removed by a short ball from Rabada, although it needed the DRS to confirm the top-edge.
The build-up to Mitchell Santner's demise highlighted South Africa's suffocating ground fielding. Three consecutive shots from Santner were intercepted sharply in the infield, then the fourth went to JP Duminy at backward point who slid and threw from the ground, hitting directly with Santner nowhere.
Tahir, who did not concede anything other than singles, gained his reward against the lower order. In three of the five matches, New Zealand had played him as well as anyone of late - "respect" had been the word used by both sides - but they became almost strokeless this time. The pressure of the occasion, the pitch, or just a good day for him? Only they will know.
Such was the swift end to New Zealand's innings that South Africa batted before the interval. Patel again saw off Quinton de Kock - that change of tactic had worked a treat - and scoring wasn't easy after the break. Hashim Amla completed a fifty-less series when he drove to cover as did Duminy - the latter far more of a concern - when he drove softly at Patel. Duminy had again been used ahead of de Villiers, but he has regressed during this series.
De Villiers has been far and away South Africa's best batsman and he was eager to finish things himself. He took a six apiece of Patel and Santner but was then surprised by the nip and angled of Neesham's bouncer, which followed him and took the glove to the keeper. As a single moment it was a superb spectacle, but not enough to open the game for New Zealand.
Du Plessis ticked over and for the first time in the series Miller played the type of forceful shots he has become known for. The target hurried into view. The sun had only just set. This time not on South Africa.
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