More dropped catches, but AB thrills the fans

South Africa's AB de Villiers celebrates scoring a half century during the 3rd One Day International cricket match against New Zealand in Durban, August 26, 2015. REUTERS/Rogan Ward

South Africa's AB de Villiers celebrates scoring a half century during the 3rd One Day International cricket match against New Zealand in Durban, August 26, 2015. REUTERS/Rogan Ward

Published Aug 27, 2015

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SA 283/7 (AB de Villiers 64, Morne van Wyk 58, Hashim Amla 44, Farhaan Behardien 40; Ben Wheeler 3/71).

NZ 221 (Tim Latham 54; David Wiese 3/58

Patrick Compton

DURBAN: AB de Villiers took time off from his fathering duties to lead the Proteas to a comfortable 62-run victory over New Zealand in the ODI series decider against New Zealand in front of 7 147 spectators at Kingsmead last night.

Batting first, South Africa compiled an authoritative total of 283/7 in their 50 overs with their captain top-scoring with 64 in 48 balls. An added gloss to AB’s night out was the fact that he became the fastest man to score 8 000 runs in ODI cricket in terms of innings played (182). The next batsman on the list, former India captain Sourav Ganguly, achieved the feat in 200 innings.

New Zealand, requiring a ground record total to win, threatened early on with a fine second-wicket stand of 84 between opener Tom Latham and captain Kane Williamson after Potch centurion Martin Guptill had fallen early to Dale Steyn. The elegant Latham, who struck a series of superb cover-drives and square cuts, recorded his third consecutive half-century in the series.

Thereafter, wickets fell at regular intervals as the Black Caps slipped further behind the required rate and the result was inevitable at least a dozen overs before the South Africans finally wrapped up victory in the final over.

As a result of their 2-1 series win, South Africa moved to No 3 in the ODI world rankings, behind Australia and India.

Despite the result, the Proteas’ management will not be happy that the home team’s fielding malaise continued, with Kane Williamson being dropped three times and Grant Elliott once. In the two series, the Proteas dropped a staggering 16 catches.

The Kiwis were no better last night, shelling half a dozen chances themselves.

Man-of-the-match De Villiers was the most fluent of the home team’s batsmen on a pitch that offered some assistance to the pace bowlers throughout. The captain came to the crease in the 22nd over after his team had lost two quick wickets after Hashim Amla and Morne van Wyk had got the home team off to a relatively untroubled start, adding 89 in 123 balls.

But then Amla played early at an innocuous delivery from Grant Elliott, the Black Caps’ most impressive bowler, to offer him a tame return catch.

At that stage, the ball had lost its initial hardness and the batsmen were finding it harder to score freely as the Kiwis took pace off the ball. Van Wyk, perhaps mindful of coach Russell Domingo’s plea for a batsman to bat through the innings, took 100 balls for his 58 before edging Elliott to slip.

The scene was now set for an entertaining liaison between De Villiers and David Miller. The skipper was the dominant force in the 89-run partnership, reaching his 8 000-run mark as he flat-batted Colin Munro for a one-bounce four wide of long-on.

But with De Villiers and Miller both being dismissed when they were poised to inflict further damage, it required another impressive late-order innings from Farhaan Behardien (40 in 28 balls) to take South Africa to their imposing total.

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