New Zealand vs. South Africa: 2nd ODI, Highlights, Scorecard and Report

South Africa wrapped up victory in their ODI series with New Zealand thanks to a 72-run win at Mount Maunganui on Friday.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to field, but the decision did not pay off. It could have done, as Hashim Amla edged between wicketkeeper and first slip, something which should never really happen at the top level, as 'keeper and fielder looked at each other in shock and frustration.

Amla was on four at the time, and he took full advantage of his life as time and time again he stroked the ball masterfully into gaps on his way to a 16th ODI century.

"

Fewest innings to 16 ODI centuries: 94 innings Hashim Amla, 110 Virat Kohli, 151 Sourav Ganguly, 153 AB de Villiers. #NZvSA

— Cricket Record (@cricinfo_record) October 24, 2014"

Amla’s 119—he fell to Tim Southee in the 45th over—was the platform for South Africa’s other batsmen to spring from.

Faf du Plessis did that with a brutal 67, while skipper AB de Villiers crashed 37 off 25 balls.

The only crumb of comfort in the field for New Zealand was that a flurry of wickets kept South Africa below 300.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
HM Amla	b Southee	119	185	135
Q de Kock†	b McClenaghan	26	54	33
F du Plessis	c †Ronchi b Neesham	67	81	73
AB de Villiers*	c †Ronchi b Southee	37	42	25
JP Duminy	lbw b Boult	19	28	16
DA Miller	b Anderson	7	29	10
RR Rossouw	c Guptill b Boult	0	1	1
VD Philander	c Brownlie b McClenaghan	1	5	4
DW Steyn	c †Ronchi b Anderson	0	3	2
M Morkel	not out	0	4	0
Imran Tahir	not out	0	3	3
Extras	(w 4, nb 2)	6
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
TA Boult	10	0	70	2
TG Southee	10	1	50	2
MJ McClenaghan	10	0	49	2
CJ Anderson	4	1	30	2
DL Vettori	10	0	41	0
JDS Neesham	4	0	32	1
MJ Guptill	2	0	10	0

In reply, New Zealand needed a foundation. Sadly, it was built on sand as none of their top six made it past 20.

Openers Martin Guptill and James Neesham were back in the shed before the score had reached 30, and salt was rubbed into open wounds when Tom Latham became De Villiers’ maiden ODI wicket—caught by the omnipresent Amla.

"

You think you've seen it all until you wake up one morning at see that AB De Villiers has taken 2 wickets #batsmankeeperbowlerlegend

— Matt Ginsberg (@Matt_Ginsi) October 24, 2014"

As in the first ODI, only Luke Ronchi showed any application with the bat.

The wicketkeeper-batsman hit an excellent 79, as he and last man Mitchell McClenaghan put on 76 to avoid complete embarrassment.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
MJ Guptill	c Rossouw b Philander	11	31	29
JDS Neesham	b Morkel	10	36	18
DG Brownlie	b Steyn	20	45	28
TWM Latham	c Amla b de Villiers	16	33	28
BB McCullum*	lbw b Imran Tahir	12	39	25
CJ Anderson	c Miller b Steyn	1	10	4
L Ronchi†	c du Plessis b Philander	79	120	83
DL Vettori	b Duminy	1	9	4
TG Southee	b Imran Tahir	5	6	5
TA Boult	b de Villiers	10	19	13
MJ McClenaghan	not out	34	63	43
Extras	(lb 3, w 7, nb 1)	11
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
DW Steyn	9	1	35	2
VD Philander	7.3	0	27	2
M Morkel	9	1	44	1
JP Duminy	7	0	41	1
AB de Villiers	6	0	28	2
Imran Tahir	8	0	32	2

The two sides will meet in the third ODI on Monday.

South Africa will be looking to keep their foot on the gas, while the Kiwis must show their own fans that they will be able to compete in next year’s World Cup on home soil.