BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa, 24 October 2005 — A quickfire 73 from Justin Kemp helped South Africa to a two-wicket victory with three balls to spare in the first One-Day International against New Zealand yesterday.

Kemp dominated the closing overs to score his runs off 64 balls after South Africa’s middle-order had rallied from 85 for four to 182 for six.

Ashwell Prince added 31, with five boundaries, and Mark Boucher 33, but Kemp led the way as the hosts notched up 115 runs in the last 15 overs to reach their winning target of 250. Kemp started his innings patiently before changing his approach to take 20 runs off Nathan Astle’s last four balls of his sixth over. After he and Boucher put on 65 for the sixth wicket off 69 balls, the South African wicketkeeper missed a wild sweep at Daniel Vettori and was bowled.

Shaun Pollock came in and blasted 37 off 29 balls to set the hosts on to the victory path.

The New Zealand bowlers had earlier stifled the South African top-order, with the normally free-scoring Herschelle Gibbs failing to hit a boundary in his contribution of 25 off 69 balls.

Shane Bond began erratically by bowling numerous wides in his opening over but struck back in his second when he trapped Boeta Dippenaar (10) in front of his stumps.

Jacques Kallis was bowled for a duck by Kyle Mills, while Graeme Smith (19) and Prince chopped the ball on to their stumps, off Andre Adams and Astle respectively.

The collapse left South Africa struggling on 85-4 in the 21st over before Kemp and Pollock came to the rescue.

With Kemp and Pollock both caught on the boundary off spinner Jeetan Patel in the penultimate over, Nicky Boje hit the winning runs.

He skied Bond over mid-on and Stephen Fleming, running back, was unable to cling on to an awkward catch coming over his shoulder. Craig McMillan had earlier scored a composed half-century to steer New Zealand to 249 for eight after they won the toss and chose to bat. McMillan worked the ball around sensibly on a surprisingly slow pitch to compile 66 in 75 balls.

Shaky India Face Lanka Challenge

In New Delhi, unsettled India will hope to answer many questions when they face visiting Sri Lanka in a tough seven-match one-day series starting tomorrow.

India’s poor form and their one-day ranking of seventh make for a difficult job against a side placed only behind champions Australia and eager to shine on their first Indian trip since 1999.

Indian cricket is passing through a turbulent phase.

Their most successful test captain Saurav Ganguly was sacked 10 days ago after a five-year tenure following a major spat with coach Greg Chappell about his prolonged batting slump.

Ganguly has been left out of the team for the first two games due to an elbow injury.

Premier batsman Rahul Dravid, who has deputized for Ganguly in the past, will have to guide a largely inexperienced side as well as anchor the innings.