New Zealand vs South Africa, 3rd ODI at Hamilton: Proteas win series 2-0 after rain spoils proceedings

Oct 27, 2014

The third and final One-Day International (ODI) between New Zealand and South Africa was called off due to heavy rain, after 30 overs of the South African innings were played. South Africa won the series 2-0 as a result. South Africa managed to score 157 runs for the loss from 30.4 overs, with Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers batting at scores of 80 and 33 respectively.

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South Africa had earlier won the first two ODIs by margins of six-wickets and 72 runs respectively. While the Proteas walked into the Seddon Park in a relaxed state and were aiming for a whitewash, New Zealand were playing for pride and were hoping to end things on a high.

New Zealand won the toss and skipper Brendon McCullum sent the Proteas in to bat first. There were several changes on both sides, with Matt Henry and Nathan McCullum replacing Trent Boult and Daniel Vettori for the Kiwis. This was Henry’s second ODI appearance. having made his debut against India earlier this year. The South Africans had rested Dale Steyn, Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir and replaced them with the likes of Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell and Kyle Abbott.

The South African opening pair of Hashim Amla and de Kock got their team off to a good start, with the second over of the match bowled by Henry fetching the visitors 12 runs. The first wicket fell at a score of 30 when Amla got caught at short mid-wicket by Nathan McCullum while trying to play a high-rising delivery, giving Henry his maiden wicket.

In came Rilee Rossouw, who failed to add much value to the score, departing for a six-ball duck by getting caught and bowled off the bowling of Henry, thereby extending his poor run with the bat in the series. A brief 30-run partnership ensued between de Kock and David Miller, before the latter played a suicidal shot off a Jimmy Neesham yorker to get his stumps rattled.

With the scoreboard reading 70 for three, it was upto an in-form de Kock and skipper AB de Villiers to save the day for the Proteas. The duo managed to thwart the Kiwi attack for the next fourteen overs, adding 87 runs in the process. de Kock had brought up his fourth ODI half-century and de Villiers was providing able support from the other end the heavens opened up. de Kock, who was batting on 80 at the time of the onset of the rain, missed out on his fifth ODI century.

It rained for the next four hours, with only a few interruptions, leaving the outfield unplayable. After much deliberation, the match officials decided to call off the game, and awarded the series to the tourists. For South Africa, it is an ideal phase of preparation for the World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in Australia and New Zealand starting February. Having maintained a clean sheet in the ODI series in New Zealand, they will be looking forward to a similar performance in the upcoming tour of Australia. New Zealand however, need to take a lot of lessons away from the poor show, most importantly their shabby top and middle-order batting.

Brief Scores:

South Africa 157 for 3 in 30.4 overs (Quinton de Kock 80*, AB de Villiers 33*; Matt Henry 2 for 40) vs New Zealand

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(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)