McMillan and storms defy South Africa A

New Zealanders 273 for 9 (50 overs, McMillan 105, J Marshall 64, Henderson 5-38) beat South Africa A 199 for 4 (43 overs, Rudolph 73*) by 19 runs (D/L)
Scorecard

New Zealand kicked off their tour of South Africa with a winning start over South Africa A at Benoni. Spectacular electrical storms, which brought an early end to the match, meant that they eased to an 19-run Duckworth-Lewis victory.

Craig McMillan won the Man-of-the-Match award for his 105, made from 106 balls after the New Zealanders had slipped to 42 for 4. Stephen Fleming, who had won the toss, made 11, Nathan Astle, who fell the ball after Fleming, 7, Hamish Marshall 10 and Lou Vincent 7 as the top order failed to make any impression.

But supported by James Marshall (64), McMillan added a crucial 161 in 29 overs for the fifth wicket, before falling leg-before to Tyron Henderson, who finished with 5 for 38. Andre Adams chipped in at the end with a quickfire 32, including two sixes and three fours.

South Africa A made a poor start, reaching 31 for 2 in the 15th over before a third-wicket stand of 76 between Jacques Rudolph (73) and Zander de Bruyn (40) put them back in the chase. Although Albie Morkel (48*) then helped Rudolph add an unbeaten 81 for the sixth wicket, they were always just off the pace. As the storms approached, the pair slammed 49 off four overs, but they ran out of time.

"We knew we needed just one partnership somewhere and me and James [Marshall] were fortunately able to put on a substantial partnership," McMillan told The New Zealand Herald. "Because there are only two warm-up games I was pleased to get straight into form and I've been looking forward to this tour for a long time.

"We've got plenty of allrounders and batters lower down the order and we've all got various jobs. So whenever we're in trouble, hopefully someone puts their hand up - and luckily it was me today."

New Zealand will play a Twenty20 international and five ODIs against South Africa during their tour. Their next game is again against South Africa A at Potchefstroom on Sunday.