KEY POINTS:
It was a good thing sports psychologist Gary Hermansson was in the Black Caps' dugout as New Zealand continued their losing run against South Africa but restored at least a semblance of pride.
Perhaps he could say why it takes coloured clothing to bring out the fight in New Zealand's cricketers.
Faced with humiliating defeat in this Twenty20 international after a typically dreadful effort with the bat, the Black Caps instead fought like lions to take South Africa to the wire, Johan Botha hitting the winning runs off Kyle Mills on the penultimate ball.
Shaun Pollock took three wickets on his return to international cricket as South Africa beat New Zealand by three wickets at the Wanderers.
Veteran all-rounder Pollock, omitted for the test series against the Black Caps, took three for 28 as New Zealand struggled to 129 for seven in their 20 overs.
AB de Villiers hit the only half-century as South Africa made hard work of their reply before tailender Botha hit a boundary.
De Villiers finished with 52 not out off 45 balls but South Africa got into a tangle against accurate bowling by Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel.
Pollock was quickly into the action, taking the first two wickets of Brendon McCullum and Jamie How. He dismissed New Zealand captain Vettori in his second spell.
McCullum hooked a short ball for six in the third over but then slammed a fierce drive to JP Duminy.
Scott Styris was the only New Zealand top order batsman to prosper, making 30 off 27 balls before being caught at mid-off by South African captain Graeme Smith off fast bowler Dale Steyn, who made his 20-overs international debut after taking 20 wickets in the two match test series.
All-rounder Mills gave the New Zealand innings some late sparkle with a hard-hit unbeaten 33 off 24 balls.
"In terms of the overall performance, we only really bowled well," Vettori said. "It was obviously another disappointing batting performance and to let those catches go down was just unacceptable.
"We've bowled reasonably well throughout the tour and they gave ourselves a chance. The other two facets - batting and fielding - have to improve and we have a lot of work to do for the one-day series."
The three-match ODI series starts in Durban tonight.
