Kimberley: Kane Williamson hit only the second century for New Zealand on their tour of South Africa to spur his team to a total of 279 for eight in the second ODI at the Diamond Oval, on Tuesday.
Williamson bounced back from a disappointing Test series with a confident, stroke-filled innings, reaching his third ODI hundred off exactly 100 balls with 14 fours.
He was hampered by cramps in the later stages of his innings but finished with 145 not out off 136 balls.
Williamson and Grant Elliott (48) put on 127 for the third wicket off 128 balls to enable New Zealand to recover from a slow start. After being sent in, the Black Caps lost Martin Guptill's wicket after three overs with no runes on the board..
New Zealand were seeking their first win in any series in South Africa following a tense one-wicket victory in the opening encounter of the three-match series in Paarl on Saturday.
South Africa were captained for the first time by Faf du Plessis after AB de Villiers was suspended for two matches because of a slow over-rate in Paarl.
The hosts lost further experience in their batting order when Hashim Amla was ruled out because of a strained right quad muscle.
Farhaan Behardien, making his one-day ODI debut and David Miller replaced De Villiers and Amla, while Morne Morkel replaced Dale Steyn in a rotation of fast bowlers. Morkel took three wickets but was hit for 71 runs in his 10 overs.