Quinton de Kock is the Man of the Match for his 69 off 64 balls on a slow, turning, tacky pitch.
"We never expected it to turn like that in the evening here in Hamilton. I thought we adapted exceptionally well. I certainly learned a lesson today on looking at wickets. It was a good win... We had to fight for every run here," AB de Villiers says
10.55 pm What a game! ODIs in New Zealand are becoming instant classics. At the start, Chris Morris picked up four wickets in no time. Then he gets carted around for 25 runs in the final over. New Zealand were struggling all through the middle overs, until an explosion at the end from Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee - 51 in 23 balls.
But Quinton de Kock played another innings that should mark him out as a player to watch out for in the future. An effortless half-century to put South Africa ahead, but Southee was front and centre in the second innings as well, picking up two wickets in two balls as New Zealand took four wickets in two overs to make a match of this.
Then AB de Villiers took over, playing serenly on a pitch that was turning square, so much that the offcutters Southee was bowling seemed like offbreaks from R Ashwin. Let's not forget 20-year old powerhouse Andile Phehlukwayo's contribution, nailing key boundaries in the last two overs to make it easier on his captain. So South Africa have won 12 games on the bounce, equalling their best streak in ODIs, and the second best ever. Thank you for joining us. Hope you enjoyed our coverage of a cracking game. Goodnight
Avneet : "My fellow Indians can stop giving references to Dhoni's ways now. AB, not even half at his mights has won it. He doesnt need to emulate anyone. The guy has collected 20+ runs off dale steyn twice amd 21 runs off Nehra to win for his team in last overs. Hopefully people give their doubts a rest. " It's very different in international cricket though and de Villiers, as great as he is, hasn't quite finished games off under pressure as often as he would like
Andy mac: "Good on ab . He may have lost the World Cup : but here's a good execution on getting a win. Partner did very well too after the mid order collapse"
Two from two. Mini conference between AB and Andile. Williamson and Southee's chat is longer.
South Africa need three off three
South Africa need only three from four now
Another mini-conference between Southee and Williamson. Will he bowl offcutters to the right-hander? Long-on back, mid-off up
raghav: "AB trying to do a Dhoni here : look to push it to the last ball and finish it off"
South Africa need 12 off the final over. Southee to bowl. He's the team's vice-captain and he's got the captain Williamson in his ear as well. Andile on strike.
Dave Fern: "Can hardly watch, so close and so tense!"
