De Villiers leads SA to win over Kiwis

Hamilton, February 19

South Africa captain AB de Villiers calmly guided his side to a tense four-wicket victory over New Zealand with one ball to spare in a rain-affected first ODI in Hamilton on Sunday.

De Villiers scored 37 not out and ensured No. 8 batsman Andile Phehlukwayo (29) kept a cool head as the pair put on 54 to reach their 208-run victory target and earn a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

The visitors, who had looked to be cruising to victory at 117/1 with 14 overs remaining courtesy of Quinton de Kock’s 69, lost four wickets in 14 balls to slump to 126/5 before Chris Morris helped his captain in a 30-run partnership. South Africa needed 22 runs from the final two overs and scored 10 from Trent Boult in the penultimate one which included a six from Phehlukwayo, who repeated the feat against Tim Southee in the final over.

De Villiers belted Southee for four off the penultimate ball to clinch the victory.

New Zealand made 207/7 after heavy rain over the past three days had forced a delay of more than three hours and reduced the match to 34-overs-a-side.

New Zealand struggled for much of their innings particularly up front against tight bowling from Morris, who took the first four wickets as the hosts slumped to 82/4 in the 16th over. But Morris, who had figures of 4/24 from his first five overs, was then taken apart by Colin de Grandhomme (34 not out) and Southee (24 not out) in his final two.

Brief scores: New Zealand: 207/7 in 34 overs (Williamson 59; Morris 4/62); South Africa: 210/6 in 33.5 overs (de Kock 69, de Villiers 37*; Santner 1/33, Sodhi 1/36). — Reuters