Dippenaar leads South Africa A fightback

South Africa A 523 for 7 (Amla 141, Dippenaar 103, Franklin 3-43) drew with New Zealand A 502 for 8 dec (Sinclair 268, Vincent 63, Franklin 63, Thomas 3-82)
Scorecard

A lifeless pitch at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom ensured that the third and final match between New Zealand A and South Africa A drifted away to a tame draw, as South Africa clinched the series by one match to none.

After being caught on a lively green-top at Benoni, the New Zealanders were greeted at Potchefstroom by a pitch that showed less life than the local cemetery. As early as the end of the second day, a draw was hardly in doubt, and even the umpires appeared at times to doze off with two seven-ball overs being called in the South African innings.

The cricket was even less exciting. Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla started the fourth and final day at a pedestrian pace, scoring 54 runs in 90 minutes before McKenzie edged to the keeper off Chris Martin for 59. The partnership of 133 had come off 297 balls and had taken 216 minutes, and in carrying the South Africans passed the follow-on total of 352, it effectively killed the game.

There was a further 100-run partnership between Amla and Zander de Bruyn, before Mathew Sinclair grabbed his second first-class wicket by trapping de Bruyn lbw for 40 - the eighth such dismissal of the 14 wickets to fall.

Amla reached the fifth hundred of his career after a very patient innings, which was punctuated by 17 sweetly-struck fours in five hours at the crease. By the time be gave Lou Vincent a difficult caught-and-bowled chance he had moved to 141, after a stay of just over six hours.

Nine bowlers had been used by the time South Africa eventually passed the New Zealand total, at which point the captains and umpires decided to call it a day and declare the match as drawn.

Sinclair won the Man-of-the-Match award and also walked away with the Series award as well, having scored 460 runs at an average of 92.00 over the three matches.