South Africa v New Zealand, 2nd Test – 5 Talking Points

South Africa started Day 2 at 283/3 with Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy at the crease. The New Zealand bowlers who hadn’t found much success on the first day made a comeback to enforce a collapse of sorts but du Plessis with his ton ensured that the Proteas got close to the 500-run mark. The skipper himself was at the crease unbeaten and decided to declare the innings with 481 runs on the board after batting for 154 overs.

Dale Steyn & Co. had a chance to have a crack at the opposition batsmen in the last one hour and they made the most of it. New Zealand were pushed on the back foot having lost three wickets even before getting to the 50-run mark having batted for just 16 overs on the day. With a huge total on the board and the Kiwi top order back in the hut, the Proteas have an edge in the game at this point. Here are the 5 talking points of the day 2.

1. New Zealand bowlers make a comeback:

The New Zealand bowlers didn’t find much success on day one as they could only dismiss three South African batsmen. Tim Southee and Trent Boult hadn’t opened the wickets tally and thus the bowling unit, on the whole struggled to contain the Proteas. They bowled much better lines today and Southee who got them the first wicket on the day in the form of Duminy who fell after scoring 88 runs. Wagner was the pick of the bowlers as he recorded his third five-wicket haul in Tests. Mitchell Santner who was used for just 14 overs also got one wicket.

2. Faf du Plessis’ century:

Du Plessis who walked out to bat with just 13 runs in his account kept going strong and consistent right through the day. He is the stand-in skipper for the series after being overlooked in the last series. He took his time, had the share of luck as the balls he missed went over the stumps and didn’t crash into them. It paid off as he got to his 4th Test ton, the first in the last 17 innings. He batted through for 234 balls and scored 112 runs with 12 boundaries and 2 sixes. Faf’s knock ensured they didn’t lose the mojo despite losing wickets at the other end.

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

3. Neil Wagner’s 5-wicket haul:

Another South African born cricketer who has troubled his native team is Neil Wagner. Playing his 22nd Test for the Black Caps Wagner was the most successful bowler for the team in the first inning. While the senior pros found it difficult to get the wickets the left-arm pacers stuck to his strength and got most of his 5 wickets with the short ball. With the wickets of Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Tenda Bavuma, van Zyl and Vernon Philander he certainly helped the Kiwis hold South Africa to a sub-500 total.

4. Stiaan van Zyl – du Plessis partnership:

They lost a wicket early on the day but the partnership between skipper du Plessis and van Zyl ensured they didn’t lose the advantage they created on the first day. They batted together for 25.5 overs for the 6th wicket partnership and scored 84 runs. Van Zyl contributed 35 runs while Faf added 48 runs. The duo came together when the score was 342 and took it to 426 before Stiaan was dismissed by Wagner caught by Taylor.

5. New Zealand top order fails:

Having fielded for almost two full days the New Zealand batsmen weren’t in the best position to come out to bat in the last one hour or so on day 2. Whereas the South African pace bowling attack led by Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander were fresh, they knew they weren’t supposed to bowl a lot of overs and so gave it all they had to ensure the Proteas not just got the breakthrough but put the Black Caps under pressure dismissing Martin Guptill, Tom Latham and Ross Taylor cheaply. Guptill was the first to go in the 4th over and Steyn had Latham caught by de Kock in the next over. Taylor’s wicket belonged to Bavuma who was superb in the field on the day.