The Black caps upset South Africa

In a stunning upset overnight, New Zealand have defeated South Africa by 1 wicket in the 1st ODI. New Zealand bowled the home side out for 208 with debutant Mitchell McClenaghan taking 4/20 off 10 overs. Really great bowling by him! Amazingly part-timer Kane Williamson also took 4 wickets with his off spin. For South Africa du Plessis was the only major contributor with 57, while Ingram made 29, McLaren 33, Kleinveldt 26.

It didn't start well for New Zealand in the chase, with Guptill being run out for a diamond duck. Mind you it was a direct hit from none other than AB de Villiers, who decided to give up keeping in shorter formats before the game. Nicol was gone in the next over, while when Williamson went, the score was 21/3. At this stage most of the crowd, and probably even the South Africans were expecting a kiwi collapse. However Watling dug in for a well made 45, while McCullum (batting at 5) made 26. Apart from this though there were regular dismissals, which left New Zealand at 105/7. Everyone would have been expecting a quick end to the match, but someone forget to give this memo to the New Zealander tail-enders. Nathan McCullum made 24, while Kyle Mills made 26.

Even when the 9th wicket fell, 22 runs were still required. James Franklin though had no fear and took the kiwis to victory with 26 balls remaining. He remained unbeaten on 47*. No.11 McClenaghan survived 6 balls, completing a wonderful debut for him.

This game was an absolute thriller, and proves that low scoring matches can be just as exciting, if not more, than bat dominated games.

No-one gave New Zealand a chance in this game (including me). The fight they showed is what has come to define New Zealand cricket over the years, which just recently has been absent. With a 1-0 lead in the ODI series, hopefully this fight can continue, and New Zealand can put up a challenge in the next 2 matches, or even pull off a miraculous upset series win.

Full scorecard here on Cricinfo
http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-new-zealand-2012/engine/current/match/567358.html