Kayla Reyneke, the 20-year-old South African, hit a last-ball six on her ODI debut to pull off an incredible win against New Zealand in the series opener on Sunday (March 29).

Reyneke, who finished on 42 off 32, refused two singles against Suzie Bates, taking the equation from six off three to six off one, and then cleared the ropes to clinch the thriller.

The game see-sawed in the final phase, as South Africa stuttered in their chase of 269, a middle-order collapse undoing Annerie Dercksen and Sune Luus' good work.

It came down to Nadine de Klerk, and then finally Reyneke to take them through, with the debutant's two sixes in the final over capping off a closely-fought game.

"I am just trying to enjoy moment. As a youngster, you want to soak it in," she later said with a smile.

Earlier, New Zealand's innings centred around Maddy Green's 85, with contributions from the top three, and a 70-run stand with Isabella Gaze. However, no one else crossed 40, as Ayabonga Khaka kept chipping away, finishing with a career-best 6-56.

Khaka made the pitch work to her benefit, taking the pace off to catch the batters by surprise. It included the lbw of Green, who looked set for a century, but was undone by a slower delivery that missed her leg-side swipe.

From 250/6, New Zealand slipped to 268 all out, with Khaka taking all four, capitalising on the lower order's attempt to go for big shots.

One of her six victims was Amelia Kerr, who has been in a sensational run of form of late. Swinging one away, she extracted an edge, with Sinalo Jafta doing exceptional work behind the stumps to get behind the ball.

When New Zealand sent back Tazmin Brits off the second ball and Laura Wolvaardt inside the sixth over, they would have sensed an early advantage. However, Dercksen and Luus dropped anchor, steadying the innings, and pushing them past 150 without any further loss. With 20 overs still to go, they looked in a comfortable position to chase it down.

However, Suzie Bates then turned things around, first as a bowler and then a fielder. She took out Dercksen and broke the stand, bowling a flatter ball on the stumps to clean her up. Next over, Luus tried to take on Amelia Kerr's loopy leg-spin, but her inside-out shot couldn't go past a diving Bates. The way Kerr and Bates celebrated, you knew how key the wicket was.

They wobbled further when Jafta and Chloe Tryon also departed, the latter really struggling to get going, managing a 36-ball nine.

New Zealand missed out on a big opportunity, when Rosemary Mair dropped Reyneke, then on 14 off 13. Mair, looking for redemption, bowled a wicket maiden in the 46th over, taking out de Klerk. Known for turning matches around, de Klerk had kept the chase alive until then.

But the hero of the evening turned out to be Reyneke, who in her short career, has already impressed with her late-order hitting.

With that last-ball six, Reyneke's surely in line to extend that into a long journey. As Ian Bishop would say, remember the name.

Brief scores: New Zealand Women 268/10 in 50 overs (Maddy Green 85, Ayabonga Khaka 6-56) lost to South Africa Women 269/8 in 50 overs (Annerie Dercksen 72, Amelia Kerr 2-31) by two wickets