Dale Steyn rescues South Africa in the final over to deny New Zealand

Dale Steyn of South Africa celebrates running out New Zealand's Ross Taylor to win their World Twenty20 Group 1 match. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

The great cricketers love a stage and they love being presented with the near impossible challenge – and carrying it off. Dale Steyn is a great cricketer and he demonstrated it once again by hauling South Africa out of the mire with a stunning exhibition of fast bowling which decorated a brilliant game of cricket, eventually won by his side by two runs.

Steyn had already bowled outstandingly when he was tossed the ball for the final over against New Zealand, who needed seven runs to win with five wickets remaining, a doddle for modern sides. Steyn shunned the Jade Dernbach route – there were no clever slower balls. Instead he bowled fast, very fast. And just as importantly, with eyeballs popping out of his head, he imposed himself on ever more mesmerised Kiwi batsmen.

The first ball of that final over was edged by Luke Ronchi and Quinton de Kock behind the stumps flung himself to his right to take a marvellous catch. Nathan McCullum shunned the obvious ploy of giving Ross Taylor the strike, swinging wildly and missing the next two balls. Then he smeared an off-side boundary but his next heave sent the ball arcing towards mid-off where Faf du Plessis held a fine diving catch. At least this meant that Ross Taylor was on strike for the last ball with three to win, two for a super over. But by now Taylor, who had batted exquisitely for 62 from 36 balls was also mesmerised. He could only mishit the last ball back to Steyn, who promptly ran him out.

Earlier there had been a doughty rescue act from JP Duminy. The South African innings had stuttered to 100 for four from 15 overs, whereupon they crashed 70 from their last five with Duminy improvising expertly. His 86 took 43 balls and contained three sixes. However Duminy did contribute to the extraordinary dismissal of one of his own. Hashim Amla smashed a delivery back down the pitch in the air straight at Duminy, who took evasive action as he backed up. The ball hit the shoulder of Duminy's bat and ballooned in the air, thereby presenting the bowler, Corey Anderson, with the simplest of catches.

The Kiwi chase ebbed and flowed. Kane Williamson, no power player, nonetheless picked the gaps in the field skilfully and his partnership with Taylor looked as if it would bring New Zealand victory. Imran Tahir took two important wickets but that did not look enough as Morne Morkel's three overs cost 50 runs with Taylor cracking him for three consecutive sixes. In such an important match Steyn would not contemplate defeat and how grateful were his colleagues for that.

For excitement and drama this match even surpassed the meeting of Pakistan and Australia in Dhaka on Sunday but the one that followed was a mighty anticlimax as the worst nightmares of the Dutch squad came to pass – and almost the worst nightmares of the tournament organisers as well. After 11 balls the Netherlands were one for three against Sri Lanka, at which point half the lights in the stadium went out. There was a 15-minute delay before the problem was fixed but there was no solution to the batsmen's problems.

The Netherlands crept to 15 for four in their powerplay, some contrast to their 91 for one against Ireland, and were then bowled out for 39, the lowest score in an international T20 match. On an increasingly unreliable surface the Sri Lankans knocked the runs off in five overs