Record Taylor ton studs New Zealand win

Ross Taylor got to a record 17th One-Day International century off the last ball of the New Zealand innings before the bowlers did the needful to stop South Africa six runs short in the second ODI of their series in Christchurch on Wednesday (February 22).

Taylor scored an unbeaten 102 to help New Zealand post 289 for 4 after it opted to bat first. South Africa came within sniffing distance, thanks to a late 26-ball half-century from Dwaine Pretorius, but eventually finished on 283 for 9.

The result snapped a 12-match ODI winning streak for South Africa and levelled the five-match series 1-1.

Taylor, 32, had shared the New Zealand record of 16 ODI centuries with Nathan Astle, and had been in a rich vein of form since returning from eye surgery in early January. On his way to his century, Taylor also became only the fourth New Zealander to score 6,000 ODI runs.

He received excellent support from Kane Williamson, the captain, and Jimmy Neesham. Neesham scored an unbeaten 71, while Williamson notched 69 – a good sign for a batting line-up that has been over-reliant on tail-end contributions recently.

However, there were also concerns for New Zealand, with Tom Latham, the opener, and Neil Broom only scoring two runs apiece. Latham, in particular, will face intense pressure to keep his place after ducks in his previous two ODIs.

Several South African batsmen – including Quinton de Kock (57) and AB de Villiers (45) – made good starts but were unable to go on and anchor the innings. As a result, South Africa looked out of it at 214 for 8, but Pretorius gave New Zealand some nervous moments, helped by misfields and poor bowling at the death.

He was dropped on 15 and made the most of the reprieve, smashing two sixes and four fours to keep the result in the balance. When he was finally bowled by Trent Boult with one over to go, South Africa needed 15 off six balls but it proved too much for Andile Phehlukwayo (29), who could manage only two boundaries off the final two deliveries.

The third ODI will be played in Wellington on Saturday.