South Africa A cruise to victory

South Africa A 318 and 39 for 0 beat New Zealand 226 and 127 by 10 wickets
Scorecard

South Africa A beat New Zealand A by ten wickets with a day to spare, as 14 wickets fell on the third day at Willowmoore Park in Benoni. South Africa cruised to a convincing win after being set a mere 36 for victory, and there now remains just one more match in the series.

South Africa had been in a good position at 260 for 3 after tea on the second day, but their innings petered away on the third morning, as they were bowled out for 318 in the first hour. Albie Morkel (19), Hashim Amla (4), Alfonso Thomas (4) and Garnett Kruger (0) all failed as the ball continued to bounce and move around.

Kerry Walmsley made the best use of the pitch, finishing with 4 for 69, while James Franklin and Paul Wiseman walked away with two wickets each. Nevertheless, South Africa still secured a handy 92-run lead, and once New Zealand A began their second-innings, it was clear that would be decisive.

Morkel and Kruger opened with an impressive new-ball spell, and had the New Zealander's top-order reeling at 5 for 32, with Jamie How (3), Matthew Bell (5), Mathew Sinclair (14), Lou Vincent (1) and Franklin (0) all falling inside the first 20 overs.

Peter Fulton and Gareth Hopkins attempted to get the innings back on track with a 33-run stand, before Fulton (24) chipped a return catch off a leading edge off Zander de Bruyn. Franklin followed off the very next ball, and Walmsey nearly completed the hat-trick as he swished outside off.

Walmsey threw caution to the wind by bludgeoning a few lusty boundaries and together with Hopkins he ensured that South Africa would have to bat again. Hopkins (24) was eventually deceived by a slower ball from de Bruyn, while Walmsey chanced his arm once too often to be caught for 28.

The innings came to a close on 127, a lead of 35, with Morkel (4 for 30), Kruger (3 for 42) and de Bruyn (3 for 31) the destroyers-in-chief.