Vincent looked set to guide the Kiwis to victory before he was eighth man out, with 37 runs still needed, when Makhaya Ntini returned to the South African attack in the 43rd over.

Ntini took three for 29 and Charl Langeveldt three for 35 as New Zealand were bowled out for 182 in reply to South Africa's 201 for nine.

South Africa's 19-run win gave them a 2-0 lead in a five-match series and extended their unbeaten record to 16 matches, which include a tie and a no-result.

Their 11 consecutive wins put South Africa level with the West Indies team of 1984 to 1985 in second place on the all-time list, behind the 21 successive wins achieved by Australia in 2003.

Vincent blazed to his half-century off just 37 balls, taking advantage of fielding restrictions and the hard new ball, then played an anchor role as stroke-play became more difficult on a tricky, two-paced pitch.

Vincent, 26, faced 109 deliveries in total as he improved a mediocre career record. In 68 previous one-day internationals he had averaged just 24.33 with an innings of 172 against lowly Zimbabwe in August his only score above 60.

New Zealand lost two early wickets before Vincent and Scott Styris put on 64 for the third wicket off 53 balls to put the touring team comfortably ahead of the required scoring rate.

But the runs dried up while wickets fell at regular intervals before substitute James Franklin joined Vincent in an eighth wicket stand of 28. Vincent started to struggle with cramp and called for a runner shortly before he pulled Ntini to Ashwell Prince at midwicket.

Earlier Styris put New Zealand in a good position with his medium-pace bowling.

The medium-paced Styris, who missed the first match in Bloemfontein Sunday with a hamstring injury, took wickets in both his first two overs and conceded only seven runs in his first six overs. He finished with two for 29.

Opening bowler Kyle Mills, benefiting from some desperate hitting by the South Africans in the closing overs, took four for 44.

Jacques Kallis top-scored for South Africa with a laboured 51 off 94 balls. Most of the batsmen found it difficult to time the ball consistently on a pitch of uneven bounce.

South Africa looked well placed when captain Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs took the total to 69 in the 14th over before Smith was bowled by Styris when he went for a big hit. Styris then had pinch-hitter Shaun Pollock caught at wide long-on. Gibbs was leg before to Kyle Mills as South Africa lost three wickets for five runs in 20 balls.

The innings lost momentum as Kallis and Ashwell Prince battled against accurate bowling by Styris and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, who took one for 31 off his ten overs.

South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher helped lift the scoring rate with 40 off 47 balls before he was the first of three batsmen to sky catches off Mills in the closing overs.

Injuries forced South Africa to bring in new cap Andrew Puttick, a left-handed opening batsman. Boeta Dippenaar was diagnosed with a right wrist problem which will require surgery and will keep him out of action for four weeks, while AB de Villiers, who would probably have come in for Dippenaar, was ruled out with a calf strain.

Puttick lasted only five balls and failed to score before being bowled by Shane Bond but he finished the night on a high when he took a catch on the cover boundary to end the match.

South Africa won the opening encounter of a five-match series by two wickets in Bloemfontein to equal their record sequence of ten wins, achieved on two previous occasions, in 1995-96 and 2000-01.