Close South Africa 253 for 5 (Gibbs 89, Boucher 57*, Rhodes 55) beat New Zealand 160 (Boje 4 for 31) by 93 runs
scorecard

Now things are getting interesting. Taken in isolation, this was a one-sided and uninspiring one-day match. But as a passage of play in an increasingly absorbing VB Series, it was dynamite. South Africa were dead in the water at the end of last week, but today they bounced back with a clinical victory over a subdued New Zealand team, and in doing so secured a vital bonus point. And Australia, spanked by New Zealand on Saturday, are suddenly back at the bottom of the pile.

South Africa's heroes were Nicky Boje, who took 4 wickets for 31 in an intelligent display of left-arm spin, and Jonty Rhodes and Mark Boucher, whose 86-run blitzkrieg hauled a soporific batting display into a position of real strength.

But South Africa were aided by New Zealand's lack of urgency. They started badly, when Nathan Astle was caught behind off Shaun Pollock's first ball - the ninth duck by an opener this series, and finished worse, as Boje twiddled out the tail in a collapse of six wickets for 30.

In between they weren't much better. Brendon McCullum (29) and Lou Vincent (20) threw a straight and hard bat at pretty much everything, but their energetic 36 for the second wicket came at less than four runs an over. Stephen Fleming (43) and Craig McMillan (16) prodded the occasional one and two, but left far too much for even Chris Cairns. Shaun Pollock (2 for 24), close to the stumps and straight as an arrow, and Makhaya Ntini (1 for 32), wide of the crease and whirring like a chainsaw, were exceptional, and Allan Donald's jubilant reaction on winning a rare lbw appeal spoke volumes about his commitment to the cause.

South Africa's innings had been equally turgid, until Rhodes came to the crease. At 156 for 4 in the 42nd over, the scene was set for his blend of wriggling singles, lofted boundaries, and lucky slogs. Until then, caution had been the essence of the day, even from Herschelle Gibbs who loitered 132 balls for his 89. But 111 came off the last ten overs, and New Zealand's bowling figures were spoiled and their fielding frayed.

Rhodes was at his aggravating best - launching off his little legs like a desperate panther and running his partner Boucher into the ground. He blasted past the infielders taking twos from ones, aggressively reverse-sweeping for three (ugly but effective) on his way past 5,000 one day runs. He brought up the South African 200 by sweeping Chris Cairns for 6 and demolished his last over for 15. Rhodes eventually fell for 55, swatting at James Franklin but hitting it only to Stephen Fleming (242 for 5).

And where Rhodes led, Boucher followed - only bigger and better. He scored runs from his first delivery, and moved only upwards, swatting Franklin for 6, the ball after he had blasted him to the boundary for four. There was time for another 6 over point on one knee and he finished 57 not out off 32 balls and South Africa had rediscovered their sparkle.

It was all so different for the first 40 overs of the innings. The New Zealanders struck early as Gary Kirsten (0) followed one from Shane Bond and was cherry-picked by Adam Parore behind the stumps (9 for 1). Celebrations were muted - this is now the sort of start the New Zealanders take in their stride.

Kallis and Gibbs could barely hit the ball off the square, and Daniel Vettori, who came on in the 15th over and bowled his ten overs straight through, moved the ball through the air and off the two-day old pitch.

Kallis, on 30, eventually lost concentration, flashing at a leg-cutter from Chris Cairns (74 for 2), and Vettori quickly removed Neil McKenzie for 5, pottering a top-edged sweep into Adam Parore's gloves. At that stage, there could only be one conceivable result. But Rhodes still believes South Africa are the best one-day side in the world, and set about putting his money where his mouth is.

Teams
New Zealand 1 Nathan Astle, 2 Brendan McCullum, 3 Lou Vincent, 4 Stephen Fleming, 5 Craig McMillan, 6 Chris Cairns (capt), 7 Chris Harris, 8 Adam Parore (wk), 9 James Franklin, 10 Daniel Vettori, 11 Shane Bond.

South Africa 1 Hershelle Gibbs, 2 Gary Kirsten, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Neil McKenzie, 5 Jonty Rhodes, 6 Justin Ontong, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Allan Donald, 11 Makhaya Ntini

Tanya Aldred is assistant editor of Wisden.com
Andrew Miller is on the staff of Wisden.com

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd