De Kock made his 10th ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Quinton de Kock hammered a superb 69, while captain AB de Villiers struck a game-winning boundary off the penultimate ball of the match as South Africa beat New Zealand by four wickets in a rain-affected showdown in Hamilton.
After a lengthy delay due to rain, the match was reduced to 34 overs per side and South Africa opted to bowl first upon winning the toss.
Their decision to do so paid off early on as Chris Morris trapped New Zealand opener Tom Latham lbw for a duck.
Dean Brownlie and captain Kane Williamson made up for the early loss of Latham with a 50-run partnership before Brownlie was dismissed by Morris for 31.
Ross Taylor and Neil Broom fell shortly after, while Williamson went on to make 59 off 53 balls, which included four boundaries and two sixes, before he was clean bowled by Tabraiz Shamsi.
Williamson scored his 28th ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
New Zealand continued to lose wickets at regular intervals after Williamson’s dismissal, but an unbeaten 51-run partnership between Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee helped the Black Caps finish on 207/7 off their 34 overs.
De Grandhomme ended up making 34, while Southee scored 24.
Morris was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Kagiso Rabada snapped up two and Shamsi chipped in with one.
Chasing 208 to win, the Proteas got off to a fantastic start as De Kock and Hashim Amla amassed an 88-run partnership, during which De Kock brought up his fifty, before Amla was caught and bowled by Williamson for 35.
Faf du Plessis was on his way back to the pavilion not long after, while De Kock scored 69 off 64 balls, which included nine boundaries and a six.
South Africa continued to lose wickets in a hurry as JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien and Morris fell in quick succession.
But, De Villiers and Andile Phehlukwayo stemmed the flow of wickets and edged South Africa ever closer to victory.
In the end, the tourists found themselves needing 12 runs to win off the final over and got nine runs off the first two balls.
Only one run came from the next two balls, which left them needing two runs from two balls to win.
However, De Villiers finished things off on the penultimate ball of the match as he smashed the ball down the ground for a boundary to lead his side to a thrilling win.
De Villiers and Phehlukwayo are thrilled after leading South Africa to victory
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
De Villiers finished on 37 off 34 balls, which included three boundaries, while Phehlukwayo remained undefeated on 29 off 23 deliveries, which included two boundaries and two sixes.
Southee was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Williamson, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi claimed one wicket each.
De Kock was named Man of the Match.