An ailing Graeme Smith anchored a fighting South African recovery in the second one-day international against New Zealand in Christchurch on Tuesday, as the tourists turned a cautious start into a prolific onslaught to post 253 for eight.
The South African captain, who was a doubtful starter for the match because of a bad dose of the flu, notched his second consecutive half century of the tour to top score with 80 after gambling on batting first on winning the toss.
Initially it looked the wrong decision, with South Africa on the back foot at two for 28 after 11 overs against the seam movement of Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills.
But Smith and Boeta Dippenaar put the innings on track with 79 off 101 balls for the third wicket before Dippenaar was trapped leg before wicket by Daniel Vettori for 36.
Smith went on to score his 80 in a 109-ball knock which included seven fours and one six.
He was finally removed by Chris Cairns who had him caught by Tuffey on the third man boundary in the 43rd over.
Cairns helped New Zealand pull the game back in the latter stages after South Africa were well poised at 181 for four after 40 overs.
In his best spell of the home season, Cairns took two for 35 off eight overs with the key wickets of Smith and Mark Boucher.
Mills began strongly by trapping Herschelle Gibbs leg before wicket for nought in the second over, then Tuffey bowled Jacques Kallis for six to make it 28 for two.
But as the pitch flattened out, Smith and Dippenaar were able to score freely, Smith depositing Vettori’s first ball over mid-wicket for six, and the pace of the run-getting picked up.
Compared to the 28 runs in the first 10 overs, the second 10 produced 39 runs, there were 54 in the third 10, 60 in the fourth 10, and the final 10 overs saw 72 runs.
Jacques Rudolph and Mark Boucher chimed in with cameo innings’ of 42 and 40, Rudolph hitting two sixes and four fours in his 36-ball stand, while Shaun Pollock was unbeaten on 20 off 13 balls.
Tuffey removed dangerman Lance Klusener for eight to end with two for 47 off 10, while Mills had two for 36 off eight. – Sapa-AFP