Levi guides South Africa to big win

South Africa have levelled their Twenty20 International series with the New Zealand Blackcaps 1-1 after Richard Levi blasted 13-sixes on his way to a record equalling 117 not out as he guided South Africa to a massive eight wicket win after chasing down New Zealand’s 173 at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

Levi’s innings, which came from just 51 deliveries, saw him become the first South African international to score a century in Twenty20 International cricket and helped put his name in the record books for the fastest century beating the 50-balls it took both Chris Gayle and New Zealand Blackcaps skipper Brendon McCullum.

His thirteen sixes was nothing to sneeze at either with the total beating out Chris Gayle’s previous best of ten in an innings.

Being set a modest total of 174 after winning the toss and asking the home side to bat first it looked as though the Blackcaps had the upper hand after they dismissed Hashim Amla for two when he was caught by James Franklin, and when Wayne Parnell was brilliantly stumped by skipper McCullum the South Africans had tripped to two for 41.

However a South African-record third wicket partnership between Levi and skipper AB de Villiers of 133, beating the previous best of 120 between Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp, saw the New Zealand attack have no answers for the hitting on the small Seddon Park outfield with a total of seven bowlers used by the home side with neither of them able to make the crucial breakthrough they needed.

Richard Levi equalled the highest score in Twenty20 cricket with his 117 from 51 deliveries his name will appear on the top of the run scoring list, ahead of Chris Gayle, due to being not out and the fact that his score came of six fewer deliveries.

“It was good fun, every shot we seemed to play came off, AB kept me calm,” commented Levi.

“The leg side boundary was quite short, so I targeted that. I have no idea about the records, the time just went unbelievably quickly.”

A slow start by the New Zealand Blackcaps looked to be costly with the South African bowlers getting on top of the batsmen following the early loss of Rob Nichol who was brilliantly run out by AB de Villiers for 23 from 17 deliveries.

Martin Guptill’s golden summer continued however he was unable to notch yet-another half century falling just short when he was caught by Morkel for 47 from 35 deliveries, while the Blackcaps continued push with former Zimbabwean junior player Colin de Grandhomme looked to fail yet again with the batsmen only able to manage three from seven deliveries despite coming in at a crucial time.

Johan Botha was the best of the South African bowlers finishing with one for 22 from his four overs. His precise bowling enough to tie the batsmen down and restrict the scoring.

“There’s a few things we can learn, but overall I was very happy with keeping them to 170 with the short boundaries.” South African skipper AB de Villiers said after the match.

“I was trying to tell Richard to get off strike once we were at 10 an over but he just kept sending them flying. He has done this before so it’s not a one-off. We go to Auckland with momentum now, very happy.”

New Zealand Blackcaps 4 for 173
Martin Guptill 47 (35)
Brendon McCullum 35 (31)
James Franklin 28 (10)
Johan Botha 1 for 22

South Africa 2 for 174 (16 overs)
Richard Levi 117 (51) not out
AB de Villiers 39 (36) not out
Rob Nichol 1 for 10 (1 over)
Nathan McCullum 1 for 18 (2 overs)