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Black Caps choke in Auckland

22nd February 2012

New Zealand snatched defeat from the jaws of victory to gift South Africa a three-run triumph in the winner-takes all Twenty20 international at Eden Park. With the series level at 1-1 heading into Wednesday's showdown in Auckland, the Black Caps appeared to be cruising towards victory at 149-4 in pursuit of 166, with four overs still remaining.

But the wicket of Jesse Ryder, who marked his international comeback with 52 off 42 balls, set the nerves jangling and South Africa  stemmed the flow of runs superbly. New Zealand were still favourites with seven runs required from Marchant de Lange's final over but, despite a front foot no-ball from the seamer, the Proteas held on. New Zealand had earlier restricted South Africa to a below-par total thanks to a fine all-round performance from Rob Nicol who took two catches, two wickets and effected a run-out.

With the Proteas batting first, all eyes were on opener Richard Levi, fresh from his record-breaking century in the previous T20, and he picked up where he left off in Hamilton with a four and a six in his first six balls faced.
But the right-hander saw his innings cut short when on just 11 after a stunning low catch from Nicol running in from deep midwicket.

Albie Morkel was promoted to No.3 however the experiment failed to pay off as Nicol claimed his second catch to remove the left-hander for 10 and hand Tim Southee his first wicket.
Hashim Amla contributed a fluent 33 before edging Doug Bracewell behind the wicket but a 52-run stand between captain AB de Villiers  and JP Duminy put South Africa in a strong position.
Left-hander Duminy cracked two fours and two sixes in his top-scoring 38, however Nicol played a key part in both his and De Villiers' dismissals as South Africa slumped to 130-6.

After running out Duminy and bowling De Villiers, Nicol then trapped Justin Ontong lbw to put the Black Caps well in control. Only a 17-ball 22 from Wayne Parnell down the order propelled South Africa up to a competitive 165-7.

New Zealand openers Nicol and Martin Guptill gave their side a near-perfect start with a 65-run partnership inside six overs, exploiting the early powerplay period expertly. Even when both batsmen fell in quick succession to Morne Morkel and Johan Botha respectively, Ryder and Brendon McCullum  took the Kiwis past 100 with some lusty hitting.

McCullum had found the rope once and also cleared it and even when he edged Robin Petersen behind, New Zealand were well in control at 112-3 after 12 overs. Kane Williamson and Ryder took the hosts within 24 runs of victory, but the dismissal of the former, caught Albie Morkel bowled Morne, sparked a dramatic capitulation.

Ryder's scoring rate slowed and he chewed up far too many balls in reaching his third T20 half-century, but when he did so New Zealand still appeared to be cruising with 10 runs required from the final two overs. But, when Botha's penultimate over cost just three and included the wicket of Ryder, South Africa sensed pulling off the most unlikely of victories.

De Lange started the final over by conceding a single, but came back with two dots and two wickets - Nathan McCullum and Bracewell both succumbing to the pressure. With six required from the final ball, De Lange inexplicably offered up a front-foot no-ball, however Southee could not capitalise on the free hit.

Source: skysports.com

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