Gibbs, Kemp carry Proteas to series win

PORT ELIZABETH—Justin Kemp blasted South Africa across the line at Port Elizabeth and carried them an unbeatable 3-0 series lead. Herschelle Gibbs laid the foundations for the run chase with a stylish 81 but a committed performance in the field by New Zealand took the game down to the final over. South Africa needed nine and it took Kemp just two balls as he dispatched Shane Bond for six and four to seal the win.
When Kemp was joined by Shaun Pollock South Africa needed 42 off 30 balls and New Zealand sensed a chance to keep the series alive. Mark Boucher was brilliantly run out by a diving Lou Vincent at cover and the pressure was starting to mount. However, Kemp is becoming the next Lance Klusener and believes he can achieve any target with his immensely powerful strokeplay. On this occasion Port Elizabeth wasn’t big enough for him and New Zealand were left to ponder how they are going to beat this South Africa side, after having three gilt-edged chances to do so.
New Zealand’s total of 244 was a decent recovery after the top order had slumped against the new ball on a juicy wicket. Scott Styris held them together with a well paced 78 before Andre Adams gave the innings a grandstand finish by clubbing 24. But South Africa knew that, with a short boundary and quick outfield, a good start would put them in the driving seat.
Their rapid opening stands have become customary in this series — but so has their inability to build on them. This time Graeme Smith had a new partner — the recalled AB de Villiers — but the pattern was the same. They tucked into boundary balls from Bond and Kyle Mills as the run rate shot up to six an over.
de Villiers was especially impressive, cracking a series of cover-drives and one mightily pulled six on the roof of the stand at deep square-leg. Adams provided the much-needed breakthrough when Smith played an airy drive and inside-edged a catch to Brendan McCullum.
Mills then struck a second blow when de Villiers edged an attempted drive. Despite abundant talent de Villiers has yet to transfer his impressive start at Test level (average 53) to the one-day arena. His top-score is 39 after 10 matches and, after such a dominant start, the manner of his dismissal was a waste with a big score there for the taking.
The innings stalled as Jacques Rudolph, also on his return to the side, struggled to kick-start his innings against tight medium-pace bowling. At least Gibbs was finding his touch, locating the cover boundary with sweetly timed drives. Gibbs’ form has been building throughout the series and today he was near the top of his game. He took an aggressive approach against Daniel Vettori — Stephen Fleming’s trump card — taking 15 off one over to put New Zealand on the back foot.
He formed a series of useful — but not match-sealing stands — with Rudolph, Boucher and Ashwell Prince, but when he spooned a slower ball to point, where Hamish Marshall held a stunning catch, the result was a certainty for South Africa. Pollock struck two crucial boundaries before Kemp added his stunning finishing touches as their superb run in ODI matches continued.—Agencies