Boje and Boucher blast SA to victory

Left-arm spinner Nicky Boje took four wickets as South Africa defeated triangular series leaders New Zealand by 93 runs on Sunday.

In a dramatic reversal of form for both teams, Jonty Rhodes (55) and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, who scored a dazzling 57 not out from 32 balls to win the player-of-the-match award, shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 86 from 45 balls as South Africa hit 253 for five from their 50 overs before dismissing the New Zealanders for 160 in 45.2 overs.

South Africa, who won the toss and chose to bat first, scored 111 runs from their last 10 overs.

Opener Herschelle Gibbs (89) shared partnerships of 65 for the second wicket with Jacques Kallis (30) and 63 for the fourth wicket with Rhodes.

Chasing 254 to win, New Zealand began badly, losing opener Nathan Astle (0), Lou Vincent (20), Brendon McCullum (29) and Craig McMillan (16) who was out to Boje at 102 for four.

Captain Stephen Fleming made 43 from 80 balls but lacked support, losing all-rounder Chris Cairns for nine at 130 for five as Boje grabbed the second of his four wickets for 31 runs.

Boje and Allan Donald (2-37) combined well as New Zealand lost their last six wickets for 30 runs.

Donald was particularly fired-up, making gestures at his heart when he claimed the ninth wicket to fall, trapping James Franklin lbw for two.

Astle, who made 95 in New Zealand's 77-run win over Australia on Saturday, was out for a first-ball duck from the fourth ball of the innings.

It was the ninth time in the series an opener had been dismissed without scoring as Astle edged a ball from South Africa captain Shaun Pollock (2-24) to Boucher.

South Africa opener Gary Kirsten also made a duck, losing his wicket in the fourth over of the match at nine for one.

New Zealand's Cairns (2-69) bowled Gibbs around his legs, ending the opening batsman's 132-ball innings which included seven fours in his 12th half-century in one-day internationals.

Rhodes reached his 5,000th run in one-day internationals when he scored his 31st run of the innings.

The 32-year-old one-day specialist became the third South Africa player to reach the milestone behind Gary Kirsten and Hansie Cronje.

Rhodes hit Cairns for a six then a four from successive balls in the 46th over to reach his half-century from 50 balls including three fours and one six. Boucher hit three fours and two sixes in his explosive innings.

The victory lifted South Africa to 13 points and second spot on the triangular series table, overtaking Australia (nine) but trailing New Zealand (17).

The Proteas picked up a bonus point in their victory to take five points from the match.

Each side has two more matches before the best-of-three finals series starts on February 6 in Melbourne. The 10th match of the 12-game series is on Tuesday when Australia host New Zealand in Melbourne.

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Mail Cricket Editor