New Zealand 2-169 (Martin Guptill 101*, Rob Nicol 25, Ryan McLaren 1-26) beat South Africa 5-165 (Faf du Plessis 63, Henry Davids 55, Doug Bracewell 3-33) by eight wickets.
A thundering batting from Martin Guptill took the match away from South Africa as New Zealand won the nail biting encounter on the last ball of the match.
South Africa scored 165 runs with half of their side back in the pavilion in 19 overs and New Zealand piled up 169 for the loss of just two wickets in the required overs.
Martin Guptill (New Zealand) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his gigantic unbeaten knock of 101 runs.
The second T20 of the three match series was played on Sunday, December 23, 2012, at Buffalo Park, East London.
Earlier, Brendon McCullum, the captain of New Zealand, won the toss and decided to field first. South Africa lost the first wicket of Richard Levi at 13 as Faf du Plessis got together with Henry Davids and they added 13 runs in the fifth over with 2 fours. Davids hit 2 consecutive fours in the next over and got two more boundaries in the 8th over as the first fifty of the innings appeared on board. The 10th over produced 15 runs with first six of the innings from Davids and a four from du Plessis.
Henry Davids achieved his maiden T20 fifty in the next over with a four but lost his wicket in the 11th over for 55 off 38 balls with 1 six and 7 fours. The second wicket fell at 81 in 11.3 overs when David Miller joined in with du Plessis who kept on consolidating from the other end. The duo hit 18 runs in the 16th over with one six from Miller and 1 six and even four from du Plessis. The game was disturbed by the malfunctioning of one of the light towers and was reduced to 19 overs. Faf du Plessis smashed his fifth T20 half century in the 17th over with two back to back fours.
The pair accumulated 17 runs in the next over with 1 six and 2 fours as David Miller was caught by Ronnie Hira off Doug Bracewell for 33 of just 18 deliveries with 2 sixes and 2 fours. Faf du Plessis lost his wicket for 63 from 43 with 1 six and 8 fours as the Proteas scored 165 for the loss of five wickets in 19 overs.
Dough Bracewell was the star performer with three wickets whereas Mitchell McClenaghan and Ronnie Hira claimed one wicket each.
The Black Caps opened the innings with Martin Guptill and Rob Nicol in a slow mode by collecting five runs in the first two overs. Guptill opened up by hitting 17 runs in the next two overs with 1 six and 2 fours. Nicol followed him by getting 3 fours in the fifth and sixth overs and they reached the first fifty after eight overs. Guptill was the most aggressive of the two and dispatched 2 sixes and 1 four until the fourth delivery of the 10th over. Rob Nicol was caught by David Miller at long-on at the bowling of Robin Peterson for 25 after associating 76 runs for the first wicket.
Brendon McCullum walked in next as Martin Guptill attained his fifth T20 fifty in the 11th over with a couple of fours. The latter dispatched 3 huge sixes and 1 four in the next three overs as Brendon McCullum was caught at long on by Miller off Ryan McLaren for 17 runs when the total touched 149 from 17 overs. The Kiwis required 20 runs to win the match off the last 12 balls as Colin Munro took guards in the centre and Guptill was batting at 89 runs. The latter was dropped on the third ball of the next over at 89 as the target was reduced to 11 runs (Duckworth/Lewis method) from the last six balls.
The game became interesting when New Zealand was searching for four runs to win the game on the last ball and Guptill was looking for three runs for his maiden T20 ton. The dashing Martin Guptill hit a four through cover, he won the game for his team and thrashed his century as well. The Black Caps powered 169 runs from exactly 19 overs with eight wickets in hand as Guptill hammered 101 off 69 mere balls with 6 towering sixes and 9 superb fours.
New Zealand clinched the second T20 by a big margin of eight wickets and levelled the three match series at 1-1. The third and deciding T20 will be played on December 26, 2012, at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth.
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