A century on Wednesday from Hashim Amla laid the foundation for home success as South Africa beat New Zealand by 20 runs to win their opening one-day international at Centurion.
Amla displayed the form that had him rated the world’s best batsman as he mastered the bowling on a slow track and scored 124 for South Africa to open with 304-7 off their 50 overs.
New Zealand kept up with the required run rate for most of the chase, but lost wickets at key intervals and were bowled out for 284 in the 49th over of the first of a three-match series.
Photo: AP
Amla scored his 21st ODI century off 126 deliveries and featured in a 185-run partnership for the second wicket with Rilee Rossouw, who tempered his usual aggressive style to build a steady innings before being bowled in the 42nd over for 89.
It proved a positive start after New Zealand had won the toss and sent the hosts in to bat.
However, a chance of a much bigger score disappeared as South Africa lost five wickets in their final eight overs.
South Africa made an immediate breakthrough in the New Zealand innings as Dale Steyn had Luke Ronchi caught behind at the end of the first over after seeing two earlier deliveries dropped.
New Zealand then set about chasing down the target with Tom Latham and captain Kane Williamson amassing 104 runs for the second wicket before a vital breakthrough saw Williamson caught at extra cover for 47 off spinner Imran Tahir.
Latham (60) was the fifth wicket to fall halfway to the target as he walked across his stumps to a straight ball and was caught LBW.
The Kiwis kept up the pressure with fighting contributions from James Neesham (41) and Colin Munro (33), who might have been able to take their team past the target had they been more patient.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set