Black Caps stay focussed on series win
From Stuff, 23 March 2004
New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming is determined
not to allow a series win over South Africa go up in
a puff of smoke again.
Fleming barely cracked a smile after carving the winning
six over long-off to seal New Zealand's first win at
home over South Africa, by nine wickets at Eden Park
in Auckland yesterday.
The teams fly to Wellington today for the third and
final test with the Black Caps poised at 1-0 for their
first series win over the Proteas, the only test nation
they are yet to achieve that against.
Fleming though cast a wary eye back nine years to the
infamous 1994-95 tour where New Zealand won the first
test in Johannesburg – their previous test win
over South Africa before yesterday – then lost
the next two as excessive partying and the dope smoking
scandal involving Fleming derailed the tour.
"The mood's pretty sombre, we've famously been here
before and we're not going to let it slip without a
fight," he said.
"We're going to enjoy it, you've got to with three
days between, and our minds are focused on Wellington
and what we need to go."
New Zealand's captain fantastic could easily have allowed
himself a jubilant punch of the air as the teams wandered
off in the Auckland sun yesterday.
It was the most complete of Fleming's 20 test wins
in charge as Chris Martin led the way with 11 wickets
to scoop man of the match, Scott Styris and Chris Cairns
hit career-best centuries and Jacob Oram chipped in
with 90 and more suffocating control with the ball.
It was New Zealand's fourth win from 29 tests against
South Africa and their first at home in 72 years of
rivalry against the world's second-ranked team.
New Zealand began yesterday in the box seat with South
Africa 277 for six and trailing by 22, although there
early anxious moments when rain showers drifted across
Eden Park.
New Zealand's unlikely hero Martin bagged his 11th
wicket, Shaun Pollock, with his 11th ball and despite
a brief resistance from Jacques Rudolph and Nicky Boje,
Cairns took the final three wickets to finally top 200
scalps.
Rudolph was left 154 not out, a superb effort under
pressure for 436 minutes, but Martin's middle order
demolition on Sunday night ensured he would run out
of partners.
New Zealand needed just 51 and got there in 10.2 overs,
the only blemish Mark Richardson's dismissal for 10.
Fleming cracked Makhaya Ntini for four consecutive
boundaries before Boje's left-arm spin was deposited
way over long-off.
Fleming felt the match turned late on day one when
Jacques Kallis and Rudolph went on a go-slow with Kallis
chasing a century in his sixth consecutive test.
The next morning Martin carved through and New Zealand
were on top from then on.
While Martin and Cairns got much of the kudos yesterday,
Fleming gave Styris a huge compliment for his 170 after
coming to the crease at 12 for two on Friday.
"I texted him that night and said it was one of the
greatest hundreds I've been lucky enough to see.
"It was chanceless, aggressive, and certainly set it
up for us."
Both captains praised the much-discussed drop-in pitch,
with South African skipper Graeme Smith gracious in
defeat, saying the two batting collapses at the hands
of Martin knocked their stuffing out.
"It's probably the biggest beating we've had since
I've been in charge. I think we deserved the beating,
we were outperformed in most facets," he said.
"We've been below par the whole tour. We've been in
this hole and we've really struggled to get out of it."
But he bravely claimed they would fight back, even
though he expected a flat batsman's paradise in Wellington
to aid the home team.
"The guys have got a lot of frustration they want to
get off them. We desperately want to finish the tour
well."
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