A record-setting innings by A.B. de Villiers set South Africa up for a resounding 159-run win in the third one-day international against New Zealand in Wellington yesterday as the visitors went 2-1 up in the series.
It was an emphatic response by the world’s top-ranked ODI side after losing to New Zealand in the second match on Wednesday.
De Villiers’ innings of 85, during which he became the fastest player to 9,000 ODI runs, lifted his side to 271-8 and outstanding bowling efforts by Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehulkwayo ensured New Zealand never threatened.
Photo: AFP
Pretorius took 3-5 off 32 deliveries and Phehulkwayo finished with 2-12 off 30.
South Africa were keen to bat first when they won the toss and while they too had their jitters, De Villiers had support from Quinton de Kock (68) to give their innings some respectability.
New Zealand’s reply started disastrously.
Both openers were gone inside three overs, with the out-of-form Tom Latham dismissed for a duck and Dean Brownlie gone for 2. Kane Williamson, on 4, should have joined them when he spooned a Wayne Parnell delivery directly to first slip, where Hashim Amla failed to grasp a regulation chance.
It was a short-lived reprieve as Williamson struggled to 23 when he was bowled by Phehulkwayo and Ross Taylor (18) went LBW to Pretorius in the following over to have New Zealand 48-4 in the 16th over.
By the 20th over they were 58-6 and South Africa knew they had the game in the bag.
Colin de Grandhomme, who had the best bowling figures for New Zealand, also top scored with the bat.
He was unbeaten on 34 when the innings folded in the 33rd over, while Kane Williamson was the only other batsman to get above 20.
On a wicket that looked full of runs, South Africa opener Amla was unable to settle and went early for 7 to Tim Southee.
De Kock had no problems as he posted his fifth successive half century following innings of 55 and 109 against Sri Lanka and then 69 and 57 in the first two matches of this five-game series.
His 68 in Wellington came off 70 deliveries and included two sixes and six fours.
Faf du Plessis offered some support with 36, but otherwise there was little resistance until De Villiers set up the big finish supported by Wayne Parnell, who added 35.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but