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- Proteas batter Rassie van der Dussen said their resilience in the second Test against New Zealand has been admirable.
- The Proteas have a lead of 211 at the end of the third day of the second Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
- Van der Dussen made 45 out of South Africa's second innings of 140/5 after New Zealand were bowled out for 293.
Proteas batter Rassie van der Dussen hopes their continued fightback in the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch speaks to their ability to bounce back from dire situations.
South Africa ended the third day on 140/5, giving them a lead of 211 at a ground where a fourth-innings total of more than 200 has only been chased down successfully once.
Van der Dussen (45) contributed just under a third of SA's second innings before being prised out by Neil Wagner.
SCORECARD | New Zealand v South Africa, Second Test, Day Three
However, he and Temba Bavuma (23) had rescued SA from 38/3 after Tim Southee and Matt Henry bowled well up-front for the hosts.
SA's knocks in the second Test have seen them more than double their first Test match tally of 206, while also keeping New Zealand in the field for 186 overs as compared to the 91 of the limp first Test display.
Van der Dussen hoped that their comeback in the Test speaks to how their resilience after their inexplicably poor showing in the first Test.
"I would hope it speaks a lot about the character of the team," Van der Dussen said.
"The first Test was very disappointing for us and we did say we weren't quite sure as to what went wrong.
"We prepared well and knew what we had coming into the Test from a conditions perspective. We didn't change much from a preparation perspective."
While the pitch has played far differently in the second Test as compared to the first, Van der Dussen said the time between the Tests has allowed them to acclimatise better.
In the first Test that SA lost by an innings and 276 runs, the batters were all at sea while the bowlers were not sure of the best lengths to bowl.
While the Colin de Grandhomme/Daryl Mitchell partnership derailed the visitors, Van der Dussen said they didn't let New Zealand out of their sights.
He hoped that overnight batters Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder will take the game to the hosts on the fourth day.
"Maybe it’s the extra week of getting used to conditions and getting to see what their bowlers are doing," Van der Dussen said.
"I hope it speaks to our character. We've been under pressure before and the way we came spoke to our character and where we are.
"There's still a lot of cricket to be played and I hope we can still keep showing some character tomorrow.
"We've got two young guys at the crease and another young guy to follow, so if they can show some character, we can have a good day."
Scores in brief
SA: 364 and 140/5 (Rassie van der Dussen 45, Temba Bavuma 23, Kyle Verreynne 22*, Neil Wagner 2/44, Tim Southee 2/28, Matt Henry 1/25)
NZ: 293 (Colin de Grandhomme 120*, Daryl Mitchell 60, Henry Nicholls 39, Kagiso Rabada 5/60, Marco Jansen 4/95)
SA leads by 211 runs
