UPDATE: Verreynne stars as Proteas post 277 against Netherlands

An excellent third-wicket partnership between Zubayr Hamza and Kyle Verreynne held a tidy, probing Netherlands attack at bay in helpful bowling conditions, before the dam wall broke in the last four overs as Andile Phehlukwayo raced South Africa to 277/8 in the first ODI at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday.

Phehlukwayo lashed 48 off just 22 balls, including six mighty sixes, as he and Keshav Maharaj (18*) pounded 68 runs off the last 40 balls of the innings, including 61 off the final four overs. It provided the late boost needed to convert an average score into a good one.

Winning a useful toss under cloudy skies following heavy overnight rain, the Netherlands gained early reward for bowling first when left-armer Fred Klaassen removed both Proteas openers inside the first seven overs. Reeza Hendricks (6) played way too early and popped a catch to cover, while Janneman Malan (16) edged a loose, flatfooted drive at a wider delivery to second slip.

At 24/2, Zubayr Hamza had just the man for a crisis join him in fellow Western Province star Kyle Verreynne. The pair added 119 off 137 balls for the third wicket to give the innings a solid platform.

Hamza looked particularly good and played some wonderful strokes, while Verreynne was typically busy and positive and ensured that the Dutch bowlers never totally gained the upper hand, playing strongly off the back foot.

Hamza fell for 56 off 79 deliveries when he skied a pull off a Brandon Glover slower ball, but Verreynne went on to a career-best score and was in touching distance of a century when he was unfortunate to fall to a slower-ball gone wrong from Vivian Kingma. The back-of-the-hand delivery came out as a dipping full toss, which the wicketkeeper/batsman swung away one-handed, but straight to deep square-leg.

Verreynne had worked hard through the tough times for his 95 off 112 balls, and was all set to really launch before his dismissal.

The rest of the batting was made of flimsier material though as South Africa slid from 143/2 to 209/7; up to that point, Verreynne and Hamza had scored 57% of the Proteas runs.

Fortunately, Phehlukwayo showed his finishing ability as he belted the ball over the boundary to great effect, with skipper Maharaj providing important support as the Proteas made a strong end to their innings.

New-ball bowlers Klaassen (8-2-45-2) and Kingma (9-0-49-2) were good for the Netherlands, while Roelof van der Merwe returned to his former home ground with 1/27 in six overs of tidy left-arm spin.