Durban: South African Justin Kemp's sense of gay abandon with the bat on Wednesday did much more than spur his team to a remarkable six-wicket victory with five balls to spare against New Zealand in a group E game at the ICC World Twenty20 tournament at the Kingsmead Cricket Ground.

Kemp's not out (89, 56 balls, six fours, six sixes) served up delightful fare for the throaty home fans in the team's second successive win in the league, caused some grief for the Black Caps, smashed England's faint hopes even before it played its final game in the tournament and left India with the tough challenge of winning its both games to stay in the race for a semifinal berth.

Until Kemp unleashed a flurry of big shots in the end, there had been little to differentiate the teams. It was like watching two heavyweight fighters were in the ring, neither one wanting to give away as much as an inch of space for the other to land a knockout blow. That came when Kemp and Pollock picked up 19 runs in the 17th over.

Kemp handled the pressure of walking in at 17 for two and of losing Herschelle Gibbs at 45 in the eighth over, staying on till the match was won with some comfort. Even when the asking rate was rising, he kept calm and hit the ball straight when the bowlers either delivered full tosses or pitched it up.

Paceman Mark Gillespie was superb for New Zealand, hitting the deck hard and finding much bounce. He gave away just five runs in his first three overs. Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond were par for the course with their bowling but New Zealand rued the fact that Chris Martin and Jacob Oram gave away as many as 90 runs in their eight overs.

Earlier, Craig McMillan's ability to pull his team out of the woods was tested for the third match in a row and he came up with a typically crafty knock to help the Black Caps pass the 150 mark. From a high of 68 without loss in the eighth over, New Zealand lost its way and McMillan's creative 48 not out stopped it from collapsing for a lower score than 153 for eight in 20 overs.

In two earlier games, McMillan had walked into crisis situations – 89 for four in the 12th over against India in Johannesburg and 31 for four in the sixth over against England here on Tuesday – and guided the side to fighting scores of 190 and 164 respectively. Today, the openers Brendon McCullum and Lou Vincent ticked at eight an over and yet his team found itself in trouble.

The introduction of Morne Morkel in the eighth over and Vernon Philander in the next sparked the fall of McCullum (38, 26 balls, three fours, two sixes), Ross Taylor (1) and and Vincent (32, 29 balls, four fours) in the space of 11 deliveries. Morne Morkel had a double strike in his first over and Philander responded with a wicket in his first over.

Jacob Oram (15, 15 balls, two fours) put on 41 runs for the fifth wicket with McMillan but the 31-year-old from Canterbury held the innings together with only the lower half of the batting for company. In the 77 runs that New Zealand scored in the last 10 overs, McMillan accounted for 48, even though he did not get to face more than 25 deliveries (two fours, four sixes).

After the home bowlers had engineered a sequence of four overs in which New Zealand scored just 20 runs, Oram and McMillan targeted Albie Morkel and picked up a whopping 25 runs in his third over, the 15 th of the innings. McMillan hit him for two sixes over long-on and scooping a free hit to fine leg for four for the biggest over of the innings.

It was that over which freed the Black Caps from the grip of the home bowlers, notably the Morkel brothers and Johan van der Wath. The Morkels stifled New Zealand with the perfect length and capitalised on the batsmen's focus on preventing further damage. But McMillan's assault on Albie Morkel stopped the match from slipping entirely out of New Zealand's hands.

South Africa
Graeme Smith (Captain), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Vernon Philander, Albie Morkel, Johan van der Wath, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel

New Zealand team
Brendon McCullum, Lou Vincent, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin, Nathan McCullum

Officials
Ranjan Madugalle (match referee)
Steve Davis and Billy Doctrove
Simon Taufel (third)
Brian Jerling (fourth)

Durban: South African Justin Kemp's sense of gay abandon with the bat on Wednesday did much more than spur his team to a remarkable six-wicket victory with five balls to spare against New Zealand in a group E game at the ICC World Twenty20 tournament at the Kingsmead Cricket Ground.

Kemp's not out (89, 56 balls, six fours, six sixes) served up delightful fare for the throaty home fans in the team's second successive win in the league, caused some grief for the Black Caps, smashed England's faint hopes even before it played its final game in the tournament and left India with the tough challenge of winning its both games to stay in the race for a semifinal berth.

Until Kemp unleashed a flurry of big shots in the end, there had been little to differentiate the teams. It was like watching two heavyweight fighters were in the ring, neither one wanting to give away as much as an inch of space for the other to land a knockout blow. That came when Kemp and Pollock picked up 19 runs in the 17th over.

Kemp handled the pressure of walking in at 17 for two and of losing Herschelle Gibbs at 45 in the eighth over, staying on till the match was won with some comfort. Even when the asking rate was rising, he kept calm and hit the ball straight when the bowlers either delivered full tosses or pitched it up.

Paceman Mark Gillespie was superb for New Zealand, hitting the deck hard and finding much bounce. He gave away just five runs in his first three overs. Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond were par for the course with their bowling but New Zealand rued the fact that Chris Martin and Jacob Oram gave away as many as 90 runs in their eight overs.

Earlier, Craig McMillan's ability to pull his team out of the woods was tested for the third match in a row and he came up with a typically crafty knock to help the Black Caps pass the 150 mark. From a high of 68 without loss in the eighth over, New Zealand lost its way and McMillan's creative 48 not out stopped it from collapsing for a lower score than 153 for eight in 20 overs.

In two earlier games, McMillan had walked into crisis situations – 89 for four in the 12th over against India in Johannesburg and 31 for four in the sixth over against England here on Tuesday – and guided the side to fighting scores of 190 and 164 respectively. Today, the openers Brendon McCullum and Lou Vincent ticked at eight an over and yet his team found itself in trouble.

The introduction of Morne Morkel in the eighth over and Vernon Philander in the next sparked the fall of McCullum (38, 26 balls, three fours, two sixes), Ross Taylor (1) and and Vincent (32, 29 balls, four fours) in the space of 11 deliveries. Morne Morkel had a double strike in his first over and Philander responded with a wicket in his first over.

Jacob Oram (15, 15 balls, two fours) put on 41 runs for the fifth wicket with McMillan but the 31-year-old from Canterbury held the innings together with only the lower half of the batting for company. In the 77 runs that New Zealand scored in the last 10 overs, McMillan accounted for 48, even though he did not get to face more than 25 deliveries (two fours, four sixes).

After the home bowlers had engineered a sequence of four overs in which New Zealand scored just 20 runs, Oram and McMillan targeted Albie Morkel and picked up a whopping 25 runs in his third over, the 15 th of the innings. McMillan hit him for two sixes over long-on and scooping a free hit to fine leg for four for the biggest over of the innings.

It was that over which freed the Black Caps from the grip of the home bowlers, notably the Morkel brothers and Johan van der Wath. The Morkels stifled New Zealand with the perfect length and capitalised on the batsmen's focus on preventing further damage. But McMillan's assault on Albie Morkel stopped the match from slipping entirely out of New Zealand's hands.

South Africa
Graeme Smith (Captain), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Vernon Philander, Albie Morkel, Johan van der Wath, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel

New Zealand team
Brendon McCullum, Lou Vincent, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin, Nathan McCullum

Officials
Ranjan Madugalle (match referee)
Steve Davis and Billy Doctrove
Simon Taufel (third)
Brian Jerling (fourth)