New Zealand v South Africa, 4th ODI: 5 Talking Points

Martin Guptill’s New Zealand comeback was perhaps the talk of the town in the overall scheme of things in the fourth ODI in Seddon Park, Hamilton. However, while he was the beneficiary of perhaps one of the greatest comebacks in recent times, it is quite clear that the series now hangs in the balance and that the Kiwis are well and truly back as favorites to say the least. Jeetan Patel, one of the others also returning from a massive spell on the sidelines was one of the few factors that ensured a New Zealand win.

The visitors, however, once again relied on the heroics of their skipper AB de Villiers who was quite impressive on the day as he smashed a quickfire 72. While his deputy Faf du Plessis also helped himself to a century, it was the hard-hitting of Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell that ensured a competitive score. While there were several talking points on the day, here are five of the most prominent.

1. Jeetan Patel strikes early on comeback as de Kock fails to create history

As Martin Crowe had done in the 1992 World Cup, Kane Williamson threw a curve-ball at the Proteas and opened the bowling with Jeetan Patel. While Crowe’s strategy certainly took most of the sides off guard, it was quite clearly a notch higher with Jeetan opening the bowling on an extremely rare occasion. The third delivery of the match and Patel’s first over in ODI cricket after a long time yielded a wicket. The dismissal of Quinton de Kock was certainly a body blow to the Proteas given the form the 23-year old was in. However, there was a lot more at stake as de Kock could not rewrite history and make it six half-centuries on the trot.

Also read- NZ v SA 4th ODI Review: New Zealand keep the unbeaten streak alive with a win

2. Faf du Plessis and de Villiers step up on spinning track

Faf du Plessis has had a rather ordinary tour of New Zealand so far. However, he reinforced his batting credentials and laughed off his critics in recent times with some amazing batting, something most are not used to seeing. This was also something that saw the deputy South Africa skipper ensure that he got his name up in lights with a decently compiled 67. However, the focus was well and truly on AB de Villiers as the skipper smashed an aggressive 72 and also remained unbeaten till the close of the innings. However, what these innings did was it quashed the notion of the two batsmen not being able to play spin bowling.

3. Proteas conclude innings with a blitz

The South Africans concluded their innings in a manner completely opposite to the way the had begun their innings. They smashed 83 runs from the last 36 deliveries, something that was certainly not something many are used to. However, the lower-middle order ensured that this was certainly not the case with both Wayne Parnell and Chris Morris getting among the runs on a wicket that was gradually becoming better to bat on. This ensured that the innings concluded on 279, a par score on a wicket that had a lot of dew.

4. Martin Guptill makes the comeback count

Martin Guptill was not a part of the side for two reasons one of which was the kind of form he exhibited in the Indian tour, something that turned out to be a terrible disaster for the 32-year old. However, with Tom Latham out of form and Tom Bruce axed, it was a recall for Guptill who was impressive in the domestic circuit. After having begun his innings on somewhat of a slow note, Guptill then began to showcase some impressive batting acumen, something that not many have seen from him in recent times. He seemingly also had all the shots in the book with a whopping 15 boundaries and 11 sixes to his name. He remained unbeaten on 180. The double century looked alive at one point in time.

5. Kiwis draw level; keep streak alive

It has been quite some time since New Zealand lost a series at home. However, in a bid to preserve this, the Kiwis had their backs to the wall ahead of the match at Hamilton. However, the manner in which they played on the day was as though they were perhaps the bet cricket team in the world. They also ensured that they completed the victory with seven wickets and five overs to spare.