Young Kayla Reyneke smashed a six off the final ball of the innings to win the first ODI for the Proteas Women.
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Kayla Reyneke just loves a debut. After her Player of the Match performance on her Proteas T20I bow, she went even one better in her first ODI by smashing a six off the final delivery to power the visitors to a thrilling two-wicket victory over New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
The Proteas required 14 runs off the final over and the 20-year-old stepped up to the plate to smash two maximums, including the winning heave off Suzie Bates' final ball.
Reyneke benefitted from being dropped on 14 off Jess Kerr's bowling, but the former SA Under-19 captain certainly made the White Ferns pay dearly by staying calm in the clutch moments.
She finished unbeaten on 42 off 32 balls (3x4, 2x6) with the Proteas scraping home to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Reyneke had support from Nadine de Klerk (39) as the two middle-order batters put together a 48-run partnership for the seventh wicket to resurrect the Proteas innings after the Kiwis struck a crucial double blow midway through.
Annerie Dercksen and Sune Luus had set up the chase in superb fashion with a 123-run partnership for the third wicket. The pair looked comfortable at the crease with both batters reaching their half-century.
But just when they looked to take the game away from the White Ferns altogether, Bates clean bowled Dercksen for a magnificent 72 off 93 balls before Luus (53 off 72 balls) fell next over to New Zealand captain Amelia Kerr to set up the exciting finish later on.
Earlier, captain Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and elected to insert the White Ferns.
The Proteas would have felt the hosts probably scored 20 runs too much despite veteran seamer Ayabonga Khaka’s career-best performance of 6/56.
It was only Khaka's second five-wicket haul in 120 ODIs and eclipsed her previous best of 5/26 against the West Indies back in 2022.
The Proteas' death bowling left a lot to be desired with New Zealand pummelling 92 runs during the final 10 overs.
This was largely due to Maddy Green’s 85 off 83 balls. Green formed a 70-run partnership with Isabella Gaze before a couple more impactful stands of 34 off 22 balls with Izzy Sharp and 34 off 15 balls with Jess Kerr.
But it was Green’s dismissal, trapped LBW by Khaka, that set in the collapse as the veteran seamer ran through the Kiwi tail.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand: 268 all out (Green 85, Khaka 6/56)
South Africa: 269/8 (Dercksen 72, Luus 53, Reyneke 42*, De Klerk 39)
South Africa won by 2 wickets, lead series 1-0