New Zealand defeated an understrength South Africa by 281 runs on the fourth day of the first cricket Test on Wednesday to take an early lead in the two-match series.
Captain Tim Southee declared New Zealand 179-4 heading into the second innings overnight, taking a total lead of 528 runs. New Zealand defeated South Africa by 247 runs in the fourth inning.
New Zealand batted first with 511 and South Africa batted with 162, leading by 349 runs in the first innings. Southee opted not to execute the follow-on and Kane Williamson completed his second century and the 31st of his career before the match was called.
“I think on a good pitch, with the batsmen setting the ball and the bowlers taking 20 wickets, it’s pretty good,” Southee said. “We know South Africa are going to be a strong team. You look at how they perform in all sports, they compete and they are a very proud country, so we know they will come out and fight.”
South Africa were in trouble earlier on Wednesday, losing the wickets of openers Neil Brandt and Edward Moore in their first four overs.
Zubayr Hamza and Raynard van Tonder batted past 100 minutes to lead South Africa into lunch without further defeat. But the pair engaged in undisciplined shooting immediately after the break, hastening the end of the game.
After lunch, David Bedingham teamed up with Keegan Petersen (16) to score 105 off 96 balls for the fifth wicket. A career-high 87 goals, which gave South Africa hope.
That partnership took up much of the middle session and when Bedingham and Pietersen were together, New Zealand faced the prospect that the Test could continue into the fifth day.
Bedingham benefited from New Zealand’s short-pitch bowling, hitting 13 fours and a six. But he chased the short ball too many times and was dropped by Kyle Jamieson shortly after the tea break.
Jamieson replaced both partners and South Africa’s record dropped from 178-4 to 181-6. Bedingham tried to pull the ball but it arrived earlier than he expected and his errant shot flew to Mitchell Santner deep at mid-wicket.
Pietersen tried to hook a ball that bounced to chest height and rolled him up, and his pull was bowled by Rachin Ravindra at fine leg.
With such a large lead, New Zealand were able to formulate a plan to dismiss South Africa’s key batsmen and, albeit at a high cost, the short-pitch policy ultimately resulted in Bedingham taking a wicket.
Clyde Fortuin’s dismissal showed South Africa’s bad luck throughout the Test. He rolled a short ball from part-time spinner Glenn Phillips and hit the knees of Tom Latham, who evaded short leg and flew away Got up and was caught by goalkeeper Tom Blundell.
Duanne Olivier was caught by Daryl Mitchell at first slip off Santner’s bowling when he was pushed forward and outside off. Santner found plenty of turns earlier in the day but was unfortunate not to have more success.
Tshepo Moreki was caught by a ball from Santner, which was bowled on the line and rushed forward, catching it as he squared up in front of the stumps he.
The game finally came 40 minutes from time when Dane Paterson holed out Williamson off the bowling of Santner.
New Zealand’s victory was sealed on day one when Williamson and Ravindra partnered to hit a hundred and ended up scoring 232 runs. Williamson was bowled out for 118 early on day two, but Ravindra converted his maiden Test hundred into a double century before he was bowled out for 240. .
Ravindra also took his first two wickets in the first innings of the Test as New Zealand took control of the match.
South Africa picked six new players in the squad for the Tests, leaving out most of their key players who stayed at home for the domestic T20 series. Inevitably, there were signs of inexperience: the opening batsman, in particular, bowed out after a break in play.
But there are some promising signs from South Africa’s middle-order batsmen. Brand opened both innings and hit four and three with the bat. But his skills with the ball were outstanding and he took eight wickets as a part-time spinner.
“We were completely outplayed by a very good New Zealand team,” Brand said. “I think our patience was tested on this wicket. Guys came in and got themselves out. Back to the drawing board, I hope we can be more competitive in the second Test.”