Kiwis have World Cup wood over SA

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Christchurch

SA’s World Cup warm-up match against New Zealand in Christchurch in the early hours of Wednesday morning will have had none of the intensity of a one-day international, but it remains an intriguing fixture.

All told, SA have beaten the Kiwis in 36 of their 61 ODIs. But, when they meet in the World Cup, New Zealand have the edge.

The trouble started in Auckland in 1992, when SA could not find their way out of Eden Park’s awkward confines often enough to total more than 190/7 - 90 of them scored by Peter Kirsten. New Zealand won by seven wickets inside 35 overs.

SA evened the score in Faisalabad four years later, thanks to Craig Matthews, Allan Donald and Pat Symcox conceding just 89 runs off their 30 overs. SA chased down their target of 178 in 37.3 overs with five wickets standing.

In Birmingham in 1999, an opening stand of 176 between Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs and a 36-ball 53 not out by Jacques Kallis set up SA’s total of 287/5. Shaun Pollock’s 1/29 led a tight bowling performance that limited New Zealand’s reply to 213/8.

But, in the three World Cup matches the teams have played since, SA have come second.

At the Wanderers in 2003, a total of 306/6 - which was revised to 226 off 39 overs - could not hold the New Zealanders, what with Stephen Fleming hammering an unbeaten 134 in their nine-wicket win.

The Black Caps stayed on top in 2007, when they won a low-scoring encounter in Grenada by five wickets after SA scraped together just 193/7.

And, of course, they had SA in a choke-hold in Dhaka in 2011. Somehow, the South Africans could not see their way clear to chase down 222 for a place in the semi-final.

Wednesday’s game will not have added to that history, and as the teams are not in the same pool they will not have to think about each other - for now, at least.

But SA will know that the crafty Kiwis are likely to be in the mix come white knuckle time in this World Cup. New Zealand will know the same thing about the South Africans.

The key to New Zealand’s superiority over SA in the World Cup is the good use they have made of their limited resources of talent and skill. SA, by contrast, have wasted their advantages in those departments.

That’s as clear as black and white, or green and gold. And it’s time SA bucked that trend.