Choke? Not this time!

Dale Steyn's face curled into a strange smile after Nathan McCullum clouted him to the cover boundary in the last over of the Proteas' World T20 match against New Zealand in Chittagong yesterday.

Two balls later, South Africa had won by two runs to keep their WT20 campaign alive. How, no one could say. But we know why Steyn was smiling: when you're as nuts as he is, fantasy is reality.

"Dale Steyn proved why he has been the world's best bowler for such a long period of time," Faf du Plessis said.

"As a captain, to have a guy like that in your team makes anything possible.

"New Zealand got themselves into a position where they should have won the game. Something special was going to be required to try and take it away from them. Dale did just that."

When Steyn's smile first twisted, New Zealand needed three runs off those last two balls. Defeat for the Proteas would have all but ended their campaign. What the hell did Steyn have to smile about?

McCullum slapped the next delivery waist-high to extra cover. Du Plessis dived on a wing and held on to the catch on a prayer. Steyn's smile spread wider.

The batsmen had crossed. Ross Taylor, who had looked every inch the captain in command in scoring 62 not out, was on strike.

Now, three runs were needed off the last ball. Steyn steamed in and pitched the fateful death ray on off stump.

Taylor swung from the heels but could only thunk the ball into the pitch. Steyn did the fielding and roared into the outfield, his eyes as ablaze as the LED bails he had set tumbling at the non-striker's end for the runout. As he did so, he was no longer smiling but roaring, having bowled South Africa to victory with his haul of 4/17.

South Africa were able to total 170/6 yesterday because Hashim Amla hung tough and JP Duminy let fly. Amla's 41 off 40 balls kept the innings intact after Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers were dismissed with 42 runs scored. Duminy's aggression and Amla's work ethic was an alloy New Zealand could not break until the 14th over, and Duminy stayed on to complete an unbeaten 86.

"As a blueprint for how to play an innings in a game like this, you won't find much better," Du Plessis said.

Taylor did a similar job for New Zealand, putting on 51 with Kane Williamson - who had shared a stand of 57 with Martin Guptill. Williamson fell for 51 to a fine catch by AB de Villiers.

Scorecard

South Africa vs New Zealand

Chittagong, Bangladesh

South Africa

Q de Kock c L Ronchi b K Mills 4

H Amla c and b C Anderson 41

F du Plessis c N McCullum b T Southee 13

AB de Villiers b N McCullum 5

JP Duminy not out 86

D Miller c and b C Anderson 6

A Morkel b T Southee 13

D Steyn not out 1

Extras (1w) 1

Total (for six wickets after 20 overs) 170

Falls: 1/16 2/32 3/42 4/97 5/131 6/159

Bowling: K Mills 4-0-29-1, M McClenaghan 4-0-30-0 (1w), T Southee 4-0-46-2, N McCullum 4-0-24-1, C Anderson 3-0-28-2, K Williamson 1-0-13-0.

New Zealand

M Guptill c Q de Kock b A Morkel 22

K Williamson c AB de Villiers b D Steyn 51

B McCullum st Q de Kock b I Tahir 4

R Taylor run out (D Steyn) 62

C Munro c H Amla b I Tahir 7

C Anderson c D Miller b D Steyn 7

L Ronchi c Q de Kock b D Steyn 5

N McCullum c F du Plessis b D Steyn 4

T Southee not out 0

Extras (2lb 4w) 6

Total (for eight wickets after 20 overs) 168

Falls: 1/57 2/66 3/117 4/140 5/148 6/164 7/168 8/168

Bowling: JP Duminy 3-0-30-0, L Tsotsobe 4-0-29-0 (1w), D Steyn 4-0-17-4, M Morkel 3-0-50-0 (1w), A Morkel 2-0-13-1, I Tahir 4-0-27-2 (2w).

• South Africa won by two runs.