BIRMINGHAM – Martin Guptill trod on his stumps to spark a mini-New Zealand collapse as South Africa battled to keep their World Cup bid alive at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
Guptill and captain Kane Williamson were coping well with the Proteas’ attack, and had moved to 72/1 with the minimum of fuss after the early loss of Colin Munro.
But Guptill, when on 35, pulled Andile Phehlukwayo and ended up swivelling, only to lose his balance and clip his leg stump with his foot.
Two overs later, New Zealand slipped to 74/3 when Ross Taylor tickled a Chris Morris leg-side delivery, and Quinton de Kock took the catch behind the stumps.
Tom Latham was dismissed for a single as New Zealand slumped to 80/4, piling the pressure on skipper and star batsman Williamson to go on and make a sizeable score.
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Earlier, Rassie van der Dussen gave South Africa something to bowl at as the Proteas struggled to 241/6 after losing the toss.
Hashim Amla made a sluggish 55 off 83 balls, and Van der Dussen’s 67 not out came at better than a run a ball.
During his innings, Amla became the fourth South African to reach 8 000 runs in one-day internationals.
He is the second-fastest player (176 innings) from any side to reach the milestone after India’s Virat Kohli (175 innings).
South Africa, who brought in fast bowler Lungi Ngidi for Beuran Hendricks, had won just one of five matches, against Afghanistan, coming into the match on Wednesday.
Despite that nine-wicket success, Du Plessis’ Proteas side were still languishing in eighth spot, with the top four qualifying for next month’s semi-finals.
After Wednesday’s game, they will face Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.
Victory for unbeaten New Zealand would take them to the top of the table, with four wins from five matches.