Champions Trophy: South Africa beat New Zealand by five wickets

CENTURION - South Africa stay alive in the Champions Trophy with a five-wicket win over New Zealand in the Group B match at SuperSport Park here Thursday.

Winning the toss for the second time and again fielding, South Africa bowled out New Zealand for 214 in 47.5 overs before successfully chasing the total in 41.1 overs for the loss of five wickets.

AB De Viliers carried the bat through the Proteas innings with a well-made 70 off 76 balls while ‘man of the match’ Wayne Parnell took his maiden five-wicket haul for 57.

Parnell was well backed by Dale Steyn (2-32) and Roelof van der Merwe (2-35).

The Proteas, after their 55-run loss to Sri Lanka here Tuesday, were in must-win situation to stay on course for a semi-final spot.

And the hosts indeed came all out this day to ensure they stayed in the contention.

After a tidy performance by their bowlers, South Africa faced an early hiccup in skipper Graeme Smith who holed out a catch to Daniel Vettori off Daryl Tuffey in the sixth over for seven runs.

But Hashim Amla (38) and Jacques Kallis (36) steadied the innings with their 52-run stand. Kallis’s dismissal in the 17th over brought De Villers to the crease and he with Amla kept the scoreboard ticking. De Villiers played fluently and remained unfazed despite the quick dismissals of Amla and Jean Paul Duminy within three overs.

He stitched a 42-run partnership with Mark Boucher (28) and later with Albie Morkel coasted South Africa to a convincing victory. De Villiers’ 110-minute innings included nine fours.

Earlier, the Black Caps were left wanting for partnerships to build their innings, their batsmen falling like nine pins. The 71-run fourth-wicket stand between Ross Taylor (72) and Grant Elliot (39) was the lone bright spot of their innings.

Taylor played a responsible innings but even he could not force the pace with wickets falling at regular interval at the other end. Taylor’s innings came off 106 balls and included two sixes and six fours.