Key Points

Chasing 232, Proteas were on a roll as the openers Brits and Laura Wolvaardt kept the scoring rate high early in the innings.

Brits and Wolvaardt smashed three boundaries in the first two overs of the powerplay to set the tone of their chase. The Proteas captain hammered two more boundaries in the next over before falling to Jess Kerr on the score of 14.

Sune Luus joined Brits in the middle and carried the momentum deep in the innings as the duo snatched the match away from New Zealand. After a brief caution, Luus and Brits kept finding boundaries at regular intervals to keep the run rate over five throughout their innings.

South Africa were 54/1 after the end of the powerplay. Brits hit Sophie Devine for two fours in the 11th over to continue putting pressure on White Ferns.

In the 13th over, Luus too joined the party with the first six of the match off Amelia Kerr. The boundaries kept coming from both ends as New Zealand bowlers failed to assert any noticeable halt to the scoring rate.

South Africa reached the three-figure mark in the 17th over with both batters cruising to their half-centuries. Brits was the first to reach the half-century with a four towards long-on in the 19th over. Brits upped the ante after completing her fifty as the duo stitched their fifth century partnership in ODIs in 2025 - the most by a South African pair in a calendar year.

They also broke the previous record for the highest World Cup partnership for any wicket for South Africa, bettering 128-run stand between Marizanne Kapp & Dane van Niekerk for the sixth wicket against Pakistan in Cuttack in 2013.

Meanwhile, Luus also raced to her half-century as South reached 159/1 after 26 overs. The flow of run remained steady as South Africa were marching towards a commanding victory before a run-put appeal by wicketkeeper give a slight tension in Proteas dugout. However, the replay showed that Brits comfortably landed her foot inside the crease before Isabella Gaze took off the bails.

The pair raised up 150-run stand before Brits reached her fifth ODI century of the year to score most hundreds in a calendar year surpassing Smriti Mandhana's record of four tons in the ongoing year. Brits also took the fewest (41) innings to reach to seven ODI centuries.

Just after reaching the triple-figure mark, Brits was cleaned up by Lea Tahuhu to give some respite to the Kiwi camp. Her stellar innings of 101 in 89 balls, including 15 fours and a solitary six.

New Zealand tried to make a comeback in the match as they removed Marizanne Kapp (14) and Anneke Bosch (0) cheaply but there was not enough runs left on the board to defend as Luus and Sinalo Jafta remained unbeaten on 83 and 6 respectively as South Africa chased the target with 55 balls to spare.

For New Zealand, Amelia Kerr bagged two scalps while Jess Kerr and Lea Tahuhu got hold of one wicket each.

Earlier, left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba starred with a four-wicket haul as South Africa bowled out New Zealand for 231, despite a fighting 85 from Sophie Devine.

Opting to bat first, Kiwis had a worst possible start as they lost veteran opener Suzie Bates on a duck, that too on the first ball of the match in her 350th international game for New Zealand. She was trapped in front of the wickets by Proteas pacer Marizanne Kapp to put White Ferns under pressure. It was Bates' second consecutive duck in the tournament after failing to score against Australia at the same venue.

However, Georgia Plimmer and Amelia Kerr staged a comeback for their side with a 44-run crucial partnership for the second wicket. After the early setback, the duo took a cautious approach and dragged the side to 38/1 after the end of the powerplay.

The partnership was put to an end by Nadine de Klerk in the 13th over as she removed Amelia Kerr for 23. New Zealand captain Sophie Devine joined Plimmer in the middle, and the duo engaged in another vital stand as South Africa didn't give a chance to score freely despite the end of the powerplay.

Devine and Plimmer added a 57-run stand for the third wicket, with the former contributing more than half of the runs. Chloe Tryon brought the third scalp for Proteas with Plimmer handing a simple catch to Nadine de Klerk at long-on, reducing New Zealand to 101/3 after 25.4 overs.

Brooke Halliday's arrival at the crease lifted the scoring rate for New Zealand, with Devine also supporting from the other end. Halliday played shots to her will and scored boundaries at regular intervals.

Meanwhile, Devine completed her 17th ODI half-century and continued to hold one end strong as the Kiwis crossed the 150-run mark. Nonkululeko Mlaba broke the 86-run partnership by removing Halliday in the 39th over. Halliday contributed a quickfire 45 in 37 balls laced with six fours.

New Zealand faltered after that and lost Maddy Green (4) and Isabella Gaze (10) quickly before Mlaba bowled out Devine for 85 in the 45th over to bring New Zealand's innings to its decisive end. Devine’s knock was studded with nine fours and came at a crucial juncture for the side, while featuring in her 300th international game.

Mlaba returned with the figures of 4-40 in her 10 overs to bundle out New Zealand for 231/10 in 47.5 overs.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 231/10 in 47.5 overs (Sophie Devine 85, Brooke Halliday 45; Nonkululeko Mlaba 4-40) lost to South Africa 234/4 in 40.5 overs (Tanzim Brits 101, Sune Luus 83 not out; Amelia Kerr 2-62) by six wickets.

- IANS