Jacob Oram and Stephen Fleming celebrate the fall of a South African wicket in Mumbai on Monday. (Reuters)

Mumbai: It turned out to be another low-scoring match at the Brabourne Stadium, an extension of what transpired three days ago in Sri Lanka’s nine-wicket victory over the West Indies. But make no mistake, Monday’s South Africa-New Zealand encounter cannot be brushed aside as anything run-of-the-‘Mills’.

On a slow, abrasive wicket New Zealand medium-pacer Kyle Mills produced a brilliant opening spell, nipping South African ambitions in the bud.

South Africa never recovered from the Mills-inflicted triple-blow, when he sent back Boeta Dippenaar (0), Herschelle Gibbs (0) and Jacques Kallis (8) in quick succession. In the end, New Zealand cantered to an 87-run victory.

If the ‘product’ was finished in the Mills-factory, it got moulded into shape by none else than skipper Stephen Fleming. New Zealand are not known to be happy travellers in the subcontinent. Their track record in India going into the South Africa match — 24 losses and just 10 victories — proved that. But Monday was different, thanks to MoM Fleming.

On a day when cricket made headlines for the wrong reasons, Fleming made a strong and timely statement that the sport remained unperturbed by the Pakistan doping scandal and could move on with all its essential characteristics. The left-hander’s fighting spirit, finesse and flexibility helped his side post 195 which looked improbable at one point.

It’s a pity Fleming perished 11 runs short of a well-deserved century, but he gave his side more than a competitive total.

As the New Zealand innings got underway, Graeme Smith’s decision to field first looked to be a clever ploy. Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini’s opening spells quickly established the fact that the pitch demanded the service of slow bowlers as early as possible. Smith and Robin Peterson took the baton from them in style and produced vicious turn from the word go.

Fleming came into the picture with a beautiful blend of exuberance and grace. It was controlled aggression all the way — when batting appeared relatively easy against the pace of Ntini, he treated him with utter disdain with back-to-back flicks around the pad. Then in the middle of the innings, he was wise enough to adjust, searching for singles off the spinners.

The quick departures of opener Lou Vincent (17) and Nathan Astle (14) didn’t affect Fleming.

But when the ship was sinking, Fleming not only steadied it, but gave it proper direction. Despite the lack of any substantial partnership, he did his best to up the tempo towards the end. But Kallis — who turned out to be the most successful South African bowler with three for 28 — made him play a wide delivery, Pollock taking a simple catch at deep fine-leg.

Mills took the fight from where his captain had left, never making his team feel the absence of Shane Bond. Once he was through with his opening spell of 6-0-18-3, most of the job was done and he wasn’t required to be summoned again. James Franklin (three for 33) and Jiten Patel (three for 11) finished it off with utter ease.

Rauf returns home

A few hours before the news of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif’s failures in passing a PCB dope test broke out, Pakistan’s Asad Rauf — who was assigned the TV umpire’s role here — had to return home following news of his mother’s death.