Tahir takes five as Proteas thrash Black Caps
Imran Tahir returned career-best figures of 5-24 as South Africa began their short tour of New Zealand with an emphatic 78-run win in the sole Twenty20 in Auckland.
The Proteas were invited to bat first at Eden Park and posted a healthy total of 185-6, Hashim Amla top-scoring with 62 from 43 balls.
New Zealand never threatened to get close in reply and Tahir claimed five of the last six wickets to fall as the Black Caps were dismissed for 107 with 5.1 overs unused.
Chris Morris (2-10 from three overs) made the initial inroads for South Africa, dismissing debutant Glenn Phillips (5) and Colin Munro (0) with successive balls in the third over.
Home skipper Kane Williamson (13) and Corey Anderson (6) also fell cheaply, at the hands of Andile Phehlukwayo (3-19 from three), and the writing was on the wall for New Zealand when Tahir bowled top-scorer Tom Bruce for 33 in the 11th over.
Luke Ronchi (0) fell to Tahir’s next delivery and the remaining batsmen offered little resistance, Tim Southee briefly delaying the inevitable with 20 from six balls.
STANDING OVATION for Imran Tahir! A career-best 5/24 sees NZ bowled out for 107, SA win by 78 runs. #ProteaFire pic.twitter.com/aR7Ns2smCY
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) February 17, 2017
The Black Caps’ defeat was harsh on Trent Boult, who bowled outstandingly to take 2-8 from four overs as many of his fellow bowlers suffered heavy punishment.
Boult had Quinton de Kock caught at deep square-leg for a duck, but Amla and Faf du Plessis (36) provided South Africa with an excellent platform, sharing 87 for the second wicket.
Ben Wheeler (1-49) was taken for four successive boundaries by Amla, while Southee (0-47) and Mitchell Santner (0-40) also proved alarmingly expensive during an innings that featured handy cameos from birthday boy AB de Villiers (26) and JP Duminy (29) along with maximums from six different batsmen.
