Proteas vault to top spot

South Africa has today prolonged a proud unbeaten record in limited-overs matches against New Zealand that stretches all the way back to February 1999. But it didn't necessarily do so with complete control. Instead, it benefited from a controversial decision and was forced to work long into the afternoon before a Black Caps collapse finally brought it a 26-run victory in the teams' VB Series match here at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

For more than 80 overs, the teams were locked in an old-fashioned arm wrestle. When captain Stephen Fleming (85) led New Zealand to a scoreline of 2/152 in mid-afternoon as it pursued South Africa's formidable 7/257, his team even appeared on the brink of victory.

This was despite the fact that Daniel Vettori (2/37) had been the only menacing member of the Black Caps' attack earlier in the day. And it also put into shade the notion that that they had finished on the wrong side of a caught and bowled decision that permitted Mark Boucher (30*) to avail himself of far more runs than should have been offer during the closing stages of South Africa's innings.

Ultimately, it was only a slide that saw seven New Zealand wickets crash for 50 runs that put paid to suspicions of a successful pursuit.

Through the match's closing hour, the bowling of Allan Donald (3/40), Makhaya Ntini (2/36) and Lance Klusener (2/56) proved the difference. Ntini, exploiting as he did occasional signs of variability in bounce in the pitch from the Church Street End, was near-impossible to counter in two of the spells of the tournament.

Also underpinning the South Africans' win - one that takes them to the top of the table at the completion of the first full round of this triangular series - was a masterful exhibition of opening batting earlier in the day from Gary Kirsten (97).

Others may be tempted by the idea of rotation but Kirsten is one player the Proteas should never rest. Until his stay was tragically cut short by a run out, the left hander held the Proteas' innings together by accumulating runs while eliminating risk. He was the lynchpin in crucial partnerships of 82 runs with Herschelle Gibbs (36) at the top of the order and 75 with Boeta Dippenaar (37) for the second wicket. Moreover, the 34-year-old opener illustrated that nothing substitutes for either determined occupation of the crease or the ability to play each ball on its merits.

In the absence of Jacques Kallis to an ankle injury, the New Zealanders were granted an opportunity to open up the South African upper and middle order with rigid adherence to a good line and length.

Their error was to do so too late in the piece; only after the Proteas' total had spilled to the mark of 1/157 after 32 overs did they began to make regular incisions. And, even when more accurate bowling and a marked improvement in their fielding quickly delivered the wickets of Dippenaar, Jonty Rhodes (13), Kirsten, Neil McKenzie (22), Klusener (5) and Shaun Pollock (0), they were unable to complete the job.

Also stifling their progress was a decision by umpire Daryl Harper to reject a speculative caught and bowled appeal against Boucher (on 8) as he drove, off what initially seemed to be the bounce, back to Chris Cairns (1/54). Television replays later suggested it was a fair catch rather than a 'bump ball', though Cairns was strangely the only member of his team to even bother with the apparent frivolity of an appeal.

Boucher proceeded to slam 22 runs from his next seven deliveries. Later events showed him to be effectively signing New Zealand's death warrant in the process.

Fleming's defiant innings continued to keep the match tightly balanced, even forcing it into a cat-and-mouse struggle for long periods through the afternoon. Albeit that a general lack of support for him ensured, by the finish, that South Africa rightfully emerged as top dog.