SA v NZ 2nd Test, Day 2 Review – South Africa outplay New Zealand in all departments

Hosts South Africa ruled the roost on the day one of the 2^nd Test against New Zealand at Centurion. It was a gallant effort from the South African top order especially after a poor show by them in the first Test. The top four – Stephen Cook, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy – all scored half-centuries to take the Proteas to a strong position at the end of day 1.

By the end of the day, South Africa were placed comfortably at 283/3 after 88 overs being bowled. Duminy remained unbeaten on 67 off 122 balls while Faf du Plessis toiled hard for his unbeaten 13. For the Kiwis, the rare positive was Neil Wagner’s double strike as he ended with 2/51 on the day.

Duminy and du Plessis walked in to bat on day 2 to consolidate the dominion over the kiwis. Duminy looked good for a century and played his shots with flair. Unluckily, he could not last long on day 2. Right after an hour’s play in the first session, Tim Southee managed to get an edge of Duminy’s bat that carried to BJ Watling. Duminy had to make the long walk back after scoring a well-crafted 88 off 158 balls with 13 fours.

Temba Bavuma was the new man in. His stay at the crease was cut short by Wagner as he was dismissed minutes before the lunch, after scoring just 8. His departure saw Stiaan van Zyl come to the crease.   Stiaan van Zyl took his time to settle in and then provided the right support to du Plessis.

Meanwhile, du Plessis reached his 9th fifty and with that half century, the top 5 of the South African lineup had fifty-plus scores to their names. South Africa strolled past the 400-run mark and looked set for a big first innings total. Van Zyl’s resistance of 88 balls yielded 35 runs before he became Wagner’s 4th wicket of the innings in the 2nd session. By the end of the second session, South Africa had posted 437/6 on the board. Du Plessis needed only 5 more runs to complete his 5th century.

The moment arrived pretty soon and the South Africa batsman raised his bat in joy. He kept losing partners at the other end. Vernon Philander (8), Kagiso Rabada (7) could not stay for long. South Africa eventually declared on 481/8 with Dale Steyn unbeaten on 13 and Faf du Plessis unbeaten on 112. The declaration came right after Dale Steyn hit two sixes off the bowling of Mitchell Santner. However, the pillar stone of the innings was du Plessis’ knock. His knock of 112 came in 234 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes. Neil Wagner was undoubtedly the pick of the bowlers as he bagged 5/86.

The New Zealand innings began in the worst possible way. Their openers failed to impress yet again. Martin Guptill was the first to be dismissed on 8 by Philander in the 4th over of the innings. Dale Steyn struck in the very next over to send Tom Latham on just 4. The experienced duo of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson stood at the crease with a herculean task of rebuilding the innings.

However, much to the dismay of the Kiwi fans, their in-form batter Ross Taylor was sent packing on 1 following a brilliant piece of work at forward short leg by Temba Bavuma. In walked Henry Nicholls to join skipper Kane Williamson at the crease. The South African pace duo of Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander bowled hostile spells to keep the visitors on the backfoot. All of a sudden it appeared as if the two sides batted on entirely different wickets.

While the South African batsmen plundered runs at will, the Kiwi batsmen were struggling to find the middle of the bat. Nicholls and Williamson had their task cut out after that. They had to negotiate close to 7 overs and ensure that they do not lose any other wickets on the day. The agenda was clear and Williamson proved to be the steady head in the situation.

By the end of the day, New Zealand managed to put up 38 runs on the board for the loss of 3 wickets in 16 overs. Williamson finished with the score of 15* in 44 balls, while Nicholls remained unbeaten on 4 off 16 balls. For the Proteas, Steyn and Philander picked a wicket each and proved to be a little too much for the visitors to handle. New Zealand still trail by 443 runs.

Brief scores:

South Africa – 481/8 in 154 overs (Faf du Plessis 112*, Duminy 88; Wagner 5/86, Santner 1/62)

New Zealand – 38/3 in 16 overs (Williamson 15*, Guptill 8; Philander 1/10, Steyn 1/18)