SA seal ODI series and No. 1 spot with six-wicket win over NZ

South African Faf du Plessis during his 90-ball 51 against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday. Pic/PTI

Auckland: South Africa hailed a battling Faf du Plessis on Saturday after whipping New Zealand in the final one-day international to win the series and reclaim the World No. 1 slot. "He's a wonderful player who has turned into a great player over the past few years," captain AB de Villiers said after du Plessis anchored a six-wicket win to give South Africa the series 3-2.

The overwhelming victory moved the South Africans ahead of Australia in the world rankings after they had slipped to second when beaten by New Zealand in the fourth match. With de Plessis, holding the innings together and David Miller plundering the boundaries with 45 off 35 balls, South Africa took less than 33 overs to overhaul New Zealand's 149. Du Plessis ended the game with a boundary, which also took him to 51. De Villiers singled out his bowlers "for a fantastic effort" to destroy the New Zealand innings in 41.1 overs before du Plessis led the side home.

South African Faf du Plessis during his 90-ball 51 against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday. Pic/AFP

"It's very easy in those situations to go into a negative mindset and we decided to stay positive. It was a fantastic knock by Faf and David to take us across the line."

Kiwi's were made to struggle throughout the match with a performance which captain Kane Williamson labeled "not good enough" for the team ranked third in the world.

"It was a disappointing effort with the bat. It was a shame the first half was done so poorly. It wasn't good enough. We do need to be a lot better. When you're taking on the best team in the world you do need to raise your game," he said.

When De Villiers won the toss and opted to bowl, the world's No. 1 spinner Imran Tahir and Kagiso Rabada led a disciplined attack that decimated the New Zealand batting. Tahir's 10 overs produced two for 14, while Rabada took three for 25 off 7.1.