New Zealand 260 for 9 (Munro 57, Elliott 54, Franklin 53*, Tsotsobe 4-45, McLaren 4-52) v South Africa
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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.
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