Richard Levi hammered the fastest hundred in T20I cricket as his unbeaten 117 guided South Africa to a comprehensive eight-wicket win in Hamilton.

The 24-year-old showed incredible power as he lashed 117 off just 51 balls in an innings that included a record thirteen sixes and five fours.

It was one of the finest displays of hitting displayed by a Proteas player as he took a liking to both spin and pace in a devastating assault. The right-hander favoured the long-on and midwicket boundaries but showed he was equally capable on the off side too.

Despite losing Hashim Amla (two) and the promoted Wayne Parnell (four) early in their pursuit of 173, Levi remained brutal throughout. He was joined by AB de Villiers in the fifth over and the skipper proved the perfect foil for Levi, providing the opener with plenty of strike while never slowing the rate so that any pressure was created.

The victory was secured with four overs to spare in a whirlwind innings that sent a clear message to the Black Caps who seemed on top of the world after their win in the first clash earlier in the week.

Having been put into bat, Brendon McCullum would have been concerned when his side only posted 173 on a good wicket with small boundaries, but in truth being 20 runs short of an optimal target proved of little relevance in the end.

It was Martin Guptill once again who led the Kiwi charge, falling just short of his eighth consecutive fifty when he was dismissed by debutant Marchant de Lange for 47.

Together with first Rob Nicol (23) and then Brendon McCullum (35), Guptill led the hosts to 97 in just short of twelve overs. It was a fair platform from which to explode, but once the opener departed the innings started to stuttered and the pace slowed even further when the captain was dismissed.

James Franklin's innings of 28 of 10 balls - which was highlighted by four massive sixes in the space off five balls - gave some much needed impetus to ensure what appeared to be a middle of the road target was posted.

Little did they know what Levi had in store, though.

The result sets the series up beautifully at one a piece heading to the decider on Wednesday.