KEY POINTS:
South African coach Mickey Arthur laid into his players after New Zealand cruised to victory in the second one-day international, winning by seven wickets with 11.2 overs to spare to level the series ahead of the decider in Cape Town tonight.
To add to the South African woes, they may have to play without captain Graeme Smith, who has been laid low by a virus.
The result ended a run of five victories by South Africa and Arthur said: "We were poor in all three departments. This has been our worst game in a long while. We were very ordinary and our dressing room is very disappointed. We've rocked up at every game and expected to roll them over.
"The New Zealand dressing room is more hungry than ours at the moment and that's a concern. They did it all right tonight and we did it all poorly."
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, by contrast, was full of praise for his team.
"It was a complete performance, you couldn't ask more of the team," Vettori said. "It was a very good one-day victory."
South Africa squeaked to a two-wicket win off the last ball in the first match of the series in Durban last Sunday, a result that was still fresh in the New Zealanders' minds.
"The first words out of a lot of the guys' mouths were that we should have won in Durban, so the series should be over now," Vettori said. "But that's not the way it is. Now that we've got the momentum, we've got to make sure we hold on to it."
Brendon McCullum and Jamie How pounded the South African bowlers, as New Zealand ended their losing streak emphatically. McCullum, 81, and How, 76, put on 154 for the second wicket.
"It was a pretty good performance," said Vettori. "I don't think there was any area where we didn't do a good job. It was a good wicket and South Africa will be disappointed with the total they put up. It was a testament to the way we bowled."
Vettori said the win would give his side confidence ahead of the decider.
"We haven't won too many games in South Africa but it doesn't mean much unless we go on to win the series."
The Black Caps dominated most of the match, reducing South Africa to 66 for five after Smith won the toss and decided to bat.
All-rounder Shaun Pollock and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher added 89 for the sixth wicket to enable South Africa to make 209 for nine.
Boucher, speaking on behalf of South Africa after Smith left the field with a hand injury suffered while fielding, said his team had no excuses.
"We were behind the eight ball from the first over today. We haven't really hit our straps in the one-day format as yet. There are a couple of upset boys in the change room at the moment and we've got to raise our game for Cape Town."
New Zealand lost Lou Vincent to a run-out with only nine runs scored but McCullum and How made the target look easy. They shared the man of the match award.
McCullum was in particularly good form, as he hammered 81 off 85 balls with nine fours and a six before being run out by a good throw from deep cover by substitute fielder Dale Steyn while attempting a second run.
McCullum was aggressive from the start of his innings and How was the ideal foil, playing solidly but picking off loose deliveries to make his runs off 106 balls with 11 boundaries.
It was the second successive impressive knock by How, who made a career-best 90 in the first match in Durban.
South Africa's bowling and fielding was unimpressive, although they were hampered by dew, which made conditions difficult for the fielding team.
Opening bowler Kyle Mills struck the first blows for New Zealand on a slow pitch, which offered some early seam movement, dismissing opening batsmen Herschelle Gibbs and Smith without scoring.
Mills followed up his five for 25 in Durban by taking three for 43, while fellow new ball bowler Mark Gillespie took three for 55.
New Zealand produced their best bowling and fielding performance of a disappointing tour before Pollock, 52, and Boucher, 48, rebuilt the innings, starting their stand slowly but increasing the scoring rate after they played themselves in.
Tailender Andre Nel, who scored nine runs off the last three balls of the match as South Africa squeezed a two-wicket win in Durban, gave the innings late impetus when he hit a six and two fours off the 49th over, bowled by Mills.
Then he edged a four and slogged a six off the last two balls of the innings from Gillespie to finish with 30 not out off 13 balls.
But Nel quickly gave back most of the runs he scored when he conceded 28 off three overs with the new ball, including a straight six by McCullum. He went for another 27 in a second spell of three overs.
McCullum was dropped on 29 when a pad-bat chance off Pollock looped to Gibbs at cover.
- REUTERS
