Kiwis soaring high, take 3-1 lead

Marshall made 74, his fifth half-century in 14 one-day internationals, and Styris scored 69 from 62 balls to give New Zealand it’s third consecutive win over the South Africans.

The New Zealanders can’t lose the series and stand one match away from gaining its first ever series win against South Africa. For the second time in the series, Chris Cairns hit a six to complete the win and remained 29 not out off 22 balls. Skipper Stephen Fleming, who won the toss and asked South Africa to bat, made 51 and shared a 71-run stand for the first wicket with Michael Papps.

Fleming became the first New Zealander to score 1,000 runs in one-day matches against South Africa, following on strongly from his innings of 30, 108, and 43 in the first three matches. Styris and Marshall managed New Zealand’s carefully measured chase for the winning runs. Though Styris scored 69 from only 62, more than 30 of his first 50 runs came from singles.

Styris only lashed out late in his innings, hitting a six to the longest boundary on the ground, among 15 runs off a single over from Makhaya Ntini.

Marshall also scored through careful placements and aggressive running, taking 28 of his 74 runs from boundaries, before he was brilliantly caught at square leg by Jacques Kallis off Ntini when New Zealand was only 30 runs from victory.

SCOREBOARD

South Africa: G Smith c McCullum b Oram 37; H Gibbs lbw Mason 16; J Kallis c Cairns b Oram 13; B Dippenaar b Cairns 18; N Boje b Styris 50; J Rudolph not out 70; M Boucher c McMillan b Oram 35; S Pollock c Vettori b Mills 5; L Klusener not out 3; Extras (lb-6, w-3, nb-3) 12

Total: (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 259

Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-53, 3-78, 4-100, 5-184, 6-248, 7-255.

Bowling: Mason 10-1-46-1, Mills 10-1-53-1, Oram 10-1-51-3, Cairns 10-1-42-1, Vettori 5-0-28-0(W-1), Styris 5-0-33-1

New Zealand: M Papps c Boje b Ntini 29; S Fleming c Pollock b Boje 51; H Marshall c Kallis b Ntini 74; S Styris c Klusener b Nel 69; C McMillan not out 6; C Cairns not out 29; Extras (lb-2, w-2, nb-2) 6

Total: (for 4 wkts, 49 overs) 264

Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-102, 3-228, 4-230

Bowling: Pollock 10-2-33-0, Nel 10-0-60-1, Ntini 10-0-63-2, Klusener 8-0-39-0, Boje 6-0-35-1, Kallis 5-0-32-0