A record-breaking century by Ross Taylor steered New Zealand to a gripping six-run win over South Africa in the second One-Day International here on Wednesday.
Taylor scored an unbeaten 102 as New Zealand batted first and set a target of 290, with South Africa coming close thanks to a late 26-ball half-century from Dwaine Pretorius.
The result snaps a 12-match ODI winning streak for South Africa and levels the five-match series 1-1.
Taylor completed his ton in dramatic fashion with a boundary off the last ball of the innings, claiming a New Zealand record of 17 ODI centuries. The 32-year-old, who had shared the record of 16 with Nathan Astle, has been in a rich vein of form since returning from eye surgery in early January. “Nath was one of my idols growing up... so it’s a little bit embarrassing from that point of view. But records are there to be broken,” he said.
Taylor, who also became only the fourth New Zealander to score 6,000 ODI runs, received solid support from captain Kane Williamson and all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, who scored an unbeaten 71, while Williamson notched up 69 — a return to form for a batting line-up which has been over-reliant on tail-end contributions recently. However, there were also concerns for New Zealand, with opener Tom Latham 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.
The third ODI will be played at Wellington on Saturday.
