Martin Guptill proved exactly why he is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world to set up a decider between New Zealand and South Africa in their ODI series. Join The Roar for live scores of the fifth match in Auckland from 12pm – midday (AEDT).
It was a stunning innings from Guptill as he broke the shackles on a lack of runs, hitting 180 that led a dominant run chase with the Black Caps eventually winning with five overs left and still seven wickets in the sheds.
There is no questioning exactly how important the win was for New Zealand, but questions around their batting depth that have been there since they travelled to Australia are yet to be answered.
It seems many of their wins are coming on the back of a big individual performances and the series so far is a testament to that, where they have relied on a couple of players going big and still having a lot of failures in the batting order.
The hosts bowling has been relatively consistent, but still not quite good enough and it’s had them under pressure during the series more often than not.
Once again in the fourth ODI at Seddon Park, they conceded over five and a half runs per over, which isn’t bad in this day and age, but the pitches served up during this series have seen lower scores.
AB De Villiers was the key for the Proteas, as he has been for much of the series belting 72 from 59 balls and anchoring the innings to the end as he finished not out.
The Proteas ended with 279 which felt slightly above par until Martin Guptill came out and smashed 180, finishing not out and guiding the Kiwis to the target in 45 overs.
Given fellow opener Doug Brownlie and Kane Williamson were back in the sheds early, the Kiwis were actually under the pump but found a way to get it done with Ross Taylor scoring a controlled 66, almost making it to the end.
It’s worth noting there is still a three-Test series to follow between the teams and despite it being a different format, momentum heading into it will be key so there is more than just an ODI series on the line here.
Prediction
This almost reminds you of the epic semi-final the sides played out at Eden Park in the 2015 Cricket World Cup. South Africa won that day but Kane Williamson is due for a score and using the momentum of their run chase, New Zealand should win.
New Zealand to win the series in a close decider.
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