South Africa v New Zealand 1st Test Day 2 – 5 Talking Points

After a thoroughly clinical bowling display by the visiting New Zealand side on the first-day play of the 1^st Test of the 2-match series against South Africa, the onus was now on the Protea bowlers to show the same fire. Having asked the visitors to bowl first, the hosts couldn’t handle the heat from the Kiwi pacers yesterday – losing as many as 8 wickets on day 1.

Barring Hashim Amla, no other South African batsman could score in excess of 50 and as a result, the hosts languished at 236/8 on day 1. For the visitors, Neil Wagner was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets to his name, while Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult bagged 2 wickets each to keep the South African batsmen wanting. They had two wickets to pick this morning, on the day 2, and they did it with ease.

However, ruling out South Africa in their home conditions is never a good deal and this was evident when Dale Steyn sparked the Protea fire early in the New Zealand innings. He sent both the openers backing cheaply and brought South Africa right back into the balance. Just when things had started heating up, it was bad light and rain that played spoilsport yet again. Only 22 overs could be bowled on the second day. Here are 5 Talking Points from the Day 2 play:

1. Delayed Start

Due to overcast conditions at Durban and poor light, the scheduled start was delayed on the day’s play. The players and the officials eagerly waited for the action to get underway and so did the spectators. After a brief delay of close to an hour, the match finally started with South Africa resuming their innings on 236/8 from their overnight score on Day 1. Dale Steyn (2*) and Kagiso Rabada (14*) walked into the middle to add a few more runs to the South Africa total. Interestingly, it was bad light that had prompted the match to end earlier than scheduled yesterday as well. Only 77.4 overs could be bowled on the day 1.

2. Southee stuns Steyn

South Africa hoped for their tailenders to add a few crucial runs as their batting had largely failed on the day. However, New Zealand spearhead Tim Southee had other plans. Bowling in his very first over on the second day, Southee cleaned up Dale Steyn for his overnight score of 2. The stumps were rattled and Steyn had to make a long walk back. This was certainly against what the Proteas had planned for the day. This was Southee’s first wicket in the innings. It looked like the Kiwis were keen on making very little of the batting left in the South African lineup. Southee ended up with figures of 1/80 by the end of the innings.

3. Rabada delays the inevitable

The visitors thought that they would wrap up the proceedings quickly, especially after getting Steyn on the 8^th ball of the day. However, Kagiso Rabada and Dane Piedt showed some gritty resistance to delay the inevitable and played the blockathon. They also kept adding a few runs to the scorecard before the innings finally wrapped up on 263. The 27 run stand for the 10^th wicket came in 52 balls and was finally broken when Trent Boult got rid of Piedt (9 off 28 balls). Kagiso Rabada remained unbeaten on 32 that came off 60 balls with 5 boundaries to his name.

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4. Steyn gun strikes

After a clinical bowling display, the Kiwi batsmen had their task cut out – to see the new ball through and eventually score heavy to take a handsome lead. However, it was the veteran pacer Dale Steyn, who had some other plans for the day. Steyn was venomous in his starting spell. He sent Tom Latham packing early in the innings, dismissing him on 4. He soon sent Latham’s opening partner, Marting Guptill, back to the pavilion too. Guptill was trapped lbw on 7 by Steyn. Steyn, in the process, had bagged 2 wickets in his 2 successive overs. The venomous spell by Steyn saw him bowl 6 overs with 4 maidens, giving away just 3 runs.

5. Rain plays spoilsport again

The Kiwis had batted only 12 overs – scoring 15/2, when the rain intervened and the players had to walk off the field. It was poor light that kept delaying the resumption of the game. After a long wait, the day’s play had to be called off. The covers were on and it was pitch dark at Kingsmead, as the spectators left the ground. While an early start is scheduled for the day 3, it is highly unlikely that it would perspire the way it is planned to.