Napier: South Africa trounced New Zealand by eight wickets on Wednesday, led by a Morne Morkel five-wicket haul and 92 runs from Hashim Amla, to seal victory in their one-day series with a game to spare.
The victory at McLean Park in Napier hands the tourists an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODIs, and after taking the earlier Twenty20 series 2-1 they hold a commanding psychological advantage over New Zealand ahead of the looming Tests.
New Zealand were sent into bat and at 131 for one were heading for a competitive 300-plus total before a spectacular collapse saw them all out for 230 in the 48th over.
Morkel, who had none for 33 off his first seven overs, produced a devastating late spell, taking five wickets for five runs in 15 balls to wrap up the innings with a man-of-the-match performance.
He twice found himself on the verge of claiming a hat-trick as New Zealand squandered a strong start on a wicket tailer-made for batting.
South Africa’s batsmen made the best of the favourable conditions, quickly scoring at better than six an over as they cruised to 231 for four in the 39th over. Captain AB de Villiers warned New Zealand there would be no let up in the final ODI in Auckland on Saturday as he looked for a clean sweep.
“We wouldn’t like to lose one. We did in the previous series against Sri Lanka going up 3-0 and winning the series 3-2 so it’s a big anti climax to do it like that,” he said. (AFP)
