8.50 pm Right that's all we have time for. There's plenty happening in the India-Australia Test, and there too the home side is in huuuuuge trouble. As far as this series is concerned, South Africa have a 2-1 lead with two more to play. We hope you'll join our coverage again on March 1 in Hamilton. Until then, goodbye
"It was a great team performances, it was what we emphasised on," says AB de Villiers, "I didn't feel that presence in the last games but we did this time. Don't know how we got to 270, but we did and we won. Not a big fan of setting totals beforehand. You can always assess later. You can overshoot, you might get less. It's difficult to judge. I just knew we had to bat through and then get runs late. [On seamers] They were good. We had a nice discussion before we out. Du Plessis, Quinton, Hash, they gave the bowlers what a good length on this pitch is. I just asked a lot of energy and I felt the inner ring was really difficult to pierce and we saved a lot of ones there. I didn't expect it to do that much, I felt it was a really difficult wicket to play on, I never felt in. A guy like de Grandhomme moved it all over the place, which helped us because we had two bowlers who could do the same. I don't think it did more in the second innings, we just did well, we caught our catches and we created more chances" he is also Man of the Match "Always very nervous, always fear getting out. it's just human. We started losing a few wickets, and I thought we were looking at 160-180 here, which wouldn't have been enough. But over the years I've learnt to counter that. It comes through experience, learning from mistakes and a deep deep hunger to succeed. There's nothing like contributing to the team, making hundreds, and seeing the smiles on my team-mates' faces. Love captaincy. I have a good gut feel of what might happen in 10 overs time, that's something I think McCullum was good at. I wont get it right all the time"
"They bowled superbly so it was a tough day at the office for us," Kane Williamson says at the presentation," Initially happy with the total, but on hindsight there was a bit more to extra the surface. They bowled very well, it's important that we learn from this a little bit. Our best chance of chasing that down was weather the storm in the middle and then have a crack later on. it wasn't easy. The nature of their bowlers meant they were able to get seam movement out of that surface. Specificially in drop in wickets, it is hard to rotate strike. And you play on smaller grounds so you have to take it deep. It was frustrating, we certainly didn't think it was going to provide that sort of movement. But they outplayed us. They got a pretty good score on the board. ONe day cricket can be fickle, They outplayed us today, and we need to bounce back quickly, go back to the basics. It's a quick turnaround, so we have to look at the good bits and do better"
8.40 pm AB de Villiers walks off a satisfied man. He wanted improvement from his team, and he was at the centre of it all, making 85 off 80 balls defying a slow pitch and a slower outfield. Then he outdid himself as captain - or perhaps was it before, as far before as the toss, when he decided to bat. Could he have known the pitch would liven up under lights? Because it did and the South African quicks were outstanding.
They got the ball to seam around, they stymied Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in the middle overs with impeccable control of line and length outside off. Just look at Dwaine Pretorius' figures: 5.1-1-5-3. Kagiso Rabada was brilliant as well in his comeback game and Wayne Parnell, after participating in an 84-run stand in 10 overs with his captain, came back to take two wickets. Andile Phehlukwayo took out Taylor and Williamson in the space of two overs. And what all that points to is just about the perfect game for South Africa
Ronald: "Kudos to the NZ crowd. Still in high spirits, cheering every time Boult keeps one out. Booing when he gets bounced. Great attitude!"
TA Boult c de Villiers b Pretorius 4 (15m 15b 0x4 0x6) SR: 26.66
END OF OVER:32 | 3 Runs | NZ: 111/9 (161 runs required from 18 overs, RR: 3.46, RRR: 8.94)
- Trent Boult4 (14b)
- Colin de Grandhomme33 (33b)
- Imran Tahir4-1-23-1
- Dwaine Pretorius5-1-4-2
Slip and leg slip in
END OF OVER:31 | (maiden) | NZ: 108/9 (164 runs required from 19 overs, RR: 3.48, RRR: 8.63)
- Trent Boult3 (10b)
- Colin de Grandhomme31 (31b)
- Dwaine Pretorius5-1-4-2
- Imran Tahir3-1-20-1
Pretorius for a second spell
END OF OVER:30 | 9 Runs | NZ: 108/9 (164 runs required from 20 overs, RR: 3.60, RRR: 8.20)
- Trent Boult3 (4b)
- Colin de Grandhomme31 (31b)
- Imran Tahir3-1-20-1
- Kagiso Rabada10-0-39-2
END OF OVER:29 | 4 Runs | NZ: 99/9 (173 runs required from 21 overs, RR: 3.41, RRR: 8.23)
- Trent Boult2 (3b)
- Colin de Grandhomme24 (26b)
- Kagiso Rabada10-0-39-2
- Imran Tahir2-1-11-1