23 March 2004	Tuesday	01 Safar 1425

AUCKLAND, March 22: A towering six by captain Stephen Fleming ended 72 years of waiting for New Zealand cricket as they pulled off their first home Test victory against South Africa on Monday.

They achieved their historic nine-wicket win in comprehensive fashion against the second-ranked team in the world. After compiling a 299-run lead on the first innings, New Zealand dismissed the Proteas for 349 in their second innings and were left with a mere 51-run target to win.

They achieved that with the loss of only Mark Richardson's wicket, which brought Fleming to the crease and he was in no mood to delay the inevitable, blasting 31 runs from 11 balls.

Everything fell into place for New Zealand on the final day, as recalled fast bowler Chris Martin picked up his fifth wicket of the innings to have 11 for the match and Chris Cairns joined the elite club of cricketers to achieve 3,000 Test runs and 200 Test wickets.

His dismissal of Nicky Boje gave him entry as the sixth player to achieve the double, following Gary Sobers, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Sir Richard Hadlee.

South Africa had started the Test boldly on the first day, reaching 177 before the first wicket fell, but the turning point came on the second morning as Martin exploited the cloud cover to move the ball and the tourists were all out for 296.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith was in no doubt that was where the game was lost. "It's very disappointing, it all went wrong for us on the second morning. Chris Martin bowled superbly and we never really recovered," he said.

Martin was New Zealand's star, taking five for 104 in the second innings for a match haul of 11 for 180, the eighth-best match analysis and just the 19th 10-wicket haul by a New Zealand bowler.

South African No 3 Jacques Rudolph was the only batsman to show any resistance on the final day and was left unbeaten on 154 as Martin and Cairns mopped up the tail.

Fleming said the win was more satisfying, given the strength of the opposition. The win was Fleming's 20th from 57 Tests as captain, and gave New Zealand a 1-0 lead in the series.

New Zealand have now beaten South Africa four times in 29 Tests, with the effort here the first at home in 12 matches since 1931-32. Meanwhile, pace bowlers Michael Mason and Kyle Mills have been added to the New Zealand squad for the third and final Test against South Africa beginning in Wellington on Friday.

Squad: Stephen Fleming (captain), Chris Cairns, Chris Martin, Michael Mason, Kyle Mills, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Michael Papps, Mark Richardson, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 296 (G.C. Smith 88, H.H. Gibbs 80; C.S. Martin 6-76).

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 595 (S.B. Styris 170, C.L. Cairns 158, J.D.P. Oram 90, C.D. McMillan 82; S.M. Pollock 4-113).

SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings, overnight 277-6):

G.C. Smith b Martin 0

H.H. Gibbs lbw b Oram 61

J.A. Rudolph not out 154

J.H. Kallis lbw b McMillan 71

G. Kirsten lbw b Martin 1

N.D. McKenzie c Papps b Martin 0

M.V. Boucher c Fleming b Martin 10

S.M. Pollock c Fleming b Martin 10

N. Boje c McCullum b Cairns 24

M. Ntini c McMillan b Cairns 6

D.J. Terbrugge c sub b Cairns 2

EXTRAS (B-6, LB-1, NB-3) 10

TOTAL (all out, 108.3 overs) 349

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-103, 3-249, 4-250, 5-250, 6-272, 7-290, 8-327, 9-337.

BOWLING: Martin 23-5-104-5 (1nb); Oram 27-13-47-1; Tuffey 4-1-13-0; Cairns 13.3-1-63-3 (2nb); Vettori 24-4-73-0; Styris 13-5-39-0; McMillan 4-1-3-1.

NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings):

M.H.W. Papps not out 8

M.H. Richardson c Boje b Ntini 10

S.P. Fleming not out 31

EXTRAS (NB-4) 4

TOTAL (for one wkt, 10.2 overs) 53

FALL OF WKT: 1-20.

BOWLING: Pollock 5-1-16-0 (4nb); Ntini 5-0-31-1; Boje 0.2-0-6-0.

UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and E.A.R. de Silva (Sri Lanka).

TV UMPIRE: D.B. Cowie (New Zealand).

MATCH REFEREE: C.H. Lloyd (West Indies).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Chris Cairns.

THIRD TEST: Wellington, March 26-30. -Agencies