Publications
Partners
- South Africa's gradual collective improvement continued at the Hagley Oval when they kept New Zealand to 157/5 at the end of the second day of the second Test.
- In scoring 364, they took a 207-run lead despite a late flourish from Daryll Mitchell and Colin de Grandhomme.
- Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen bowled well to share the five wickets that fell
South Africa had the cat among the pigeons at the end of the second day of the second Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, leaving the hosts on 157/5.
It was, again, an improved collective performance that saw the visitors build on Sarel Erwee's 108 to post a very competitive 364.
That meant New Zealand, who bowled well until a late partnership between Marco Jansen (37*) and Keshav Maharaj (36) rocked them, had their openers prised out by Kagiso Rabada, while Jansen removed Devon Conway (16) and Henry Nicholls (39) to trail by 207 runs.
A late rally from the belligerent Colin de Grandhomme (54*) and the fortunate Daryl Mitchell (29*) that raised a quick 50-run stand for the sixth wicket in 57 balls mitigated New Zealand's collapse, but SA still held all the aces.
SCORECARD | New Zealand v South Africa, Second Test, Day Two
De Grandhomme raised his ninth Test 50 off 36 balls as he sought to arrest the momentum SA gained with Rabada's early strikes.
Rabada had removed captain Tom Latham (0) with the fourth ball of New Zealand innings when he strangled him with a leg-trap to leave New Zealand at 4/1.
That became 9/2 at the start of the fifth over when Will Young (4) was coaxed into a false shot off Rabada that gave Kyle Verreynne his second catch.
Conway and Nicholls knuckled down for a 42-run stand for the third-wicket that had the potential of flourishing before Conway gave his scalp way in nicking a harmless Jansen delivery down the leg-side to give Verreynne his third wicket.
That meant New Zealand now had to fight to keep their heads above water in the gloom of late afternoon Christchurch as the Proteas bowlers used the minimal seam and swing to maximum effect.
With New Zealand showing fallibility outside off-stump that wasn't fully exploited by the visitors in the first Test, there were none of the drive balls that were the nature of the first encounter.
SA bowled slightly short to first Test centurion Nicholls, but baited him with a cut shot that he inexplicably guided to Erwee at deep gully-square to leave the hosts tottering at 83/4.
Two overs later, Rabada then rocked Tom Blundell's off-stump with an excellent in-ducker. New Zealand were struggling at 91/5 and contemplating the concession of a massive lead.
The ball before, Blundell (6) had crashed Rabada to the cover boundary with a lovely drive, but the Proteas strike bowler trusted his processes at the conditions.
The Proteas bowled as well as they clearly had a lot to do with how they learned from the hosts, who were kept on the field for 133 overs despite their bowling excellence.
Matt Henry (3/90) bowled beautifully and deserved more than the scalps of Temba Bavuma (29) and and Verreynne (4).
He removed Bavuma with a slower-ball yorker that flummoxed the diminutive Proteas batter, ending the 58-run stand between him and Rassie van der Dussen (35).
Verreynne was uncomfortable throughout his stay and when he picked out Latham at second slip off Henry 12 minutes after Bavuma's exit, SA was at 261/5 and in danger of not reaching 300 for the 11th consecutive innings since the first Test against the West Indies in June last year.
When Van der Dussen was caught by Mitchell at second slip to become Neil Wagner's (4/103) second scalp, 277/6 made 300 look distant.
Wiaan Mulder (14), who was desperately luckless with the ball, fell just before lunch, but the magical 300 was on the horizon.
Rabada (6) didn't last long when he fell to Wagner, but Jansen and Maharaj burnished their all-rounder claims with a spunky eighth wicket of 62 where they raised 50 in just 69 balls.
Maharaj and Sipamla (0) fell in quick succession, but the job was done and SA's bowlers went to work before De Grandhomme's late blast spared the hosts' blushes.
Scores in brief:
SA: 364 (Sarel Erwee 108, Aiden Markram 42, Dean Elgar 41, Neil Wagner 4/103, Matt Henry 3/90, Kyle Jamieson 2/74)
NZ: 157/5 (Colin de Grandhomme 54*, Henry Nicholls 39, Daryll Mitchell 29*, Kagiso Rabada 3/37, Marco Jansen 2/48)
New Zealand trail by 207 runs
