Opener Michael Papps made a painstaking 92 to steer New Zealand to a five-wicket win on Tuesday over South Africa in the sixth limited-overs cricket international, completing an historic 5-1 series win.
Papps carried his bat through the New Zealand innings, for 201 minutes, hitting his 10th boundary from the last ball of the 46th over to take the home side past South Africa’s total of 186 for nine.
New Zealand finished at 190 for five to ensure it ended its first series triumph against South Africa in tests or one-dayers with another dominating win.
Papps’s total was his highest in one-day matches and his second half century in the series.
New Zealand built its innings around Papps, who gave the chase a solid platform as the junior partner in a 58-run opening partnership with Stephen Fleming, who batted elegantly before being run out for 32.
Papps’ remaining partnerships were moderate: five for the second wicket, 22 for the third, 30 for the fourth and 40 for the fifth but he hurried the winning run along in a last, unbroken stand of 35 with Chris Harris.
New Zealand realised that it should not have faced such a demanding total. The South African innings was in ruins at 40-6 in the 14th over but New Zealand allowed the tourists, in two record partnerships, to rebuild.
The unlikely hero was tailender Mikhaya Ntini, who made a career-best of 42 not out and shared a record 10th-wicket partnership of 67 with Albie Morkel. He followed up with bowling figures of 1-44 from 10 overs.
Ntini and Morkel’s unbroken stand followed a record seventh wicket partnership of 63 between Klusener and Ashwell Prince which began the South African recovery.
Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum took five catches as Daryl Tuffey, Michael Mason and Jacob Oram scythed through the South African top order, leaving the tourists’ 20-4, 29-5 and finally 40-6. Proteas skipper Graeme Smith made nine, Herschelle Gibbs 3, Jacques Kallis 0 and Shaun Pollock 87, all falling to catches behind the wicket.
Mark Boucher was dismissed without scoring and Jacques Rudolph was out for 3 to outfield catches as New Zealand crashed through the top and middle-order.
Prince, playing in only his third one-day international, was the first batsman to meet the New Zealand bowlers with any real defiance. He lacked support until the veteran Klusner joined him after the loss of Pollock and helped him build a record stand.
The pair stuck together from the 14th to the 33rd over and, with careful placement and slow accumulation, put on 63 runs.
Prince made 47, the innings’ top-score, before he was brilliantly caught and bowled by Jacob Oram to leave South Africa 114-8.
Klusener was run out for 35, leaving South Africa’s innings precariously balanced and it seemed they would be dismissed inside their previous low-score against New Zealand of 147.
But after the loss of Robin Peterson cheaply at 119, Morkel and Ntini took the attack to the New Zealand bowlers.
Ntini blasted two sixes off Chris Harris to signal his intentions and added three fours in a fierce rearguard action.
Morkel was happy to lend the strike to the more aggressive batsman but still managed to added 23 from 54 balls. — Sapa-AP