Image Credit- AFP
On an otherwise dull Test cricket day, Ruan de Swardt
and Shaun von Berg went above and above to save South Africa from a precarious
situation. Prying out the top-order batsman, New Zealand’s seamers were
economical. Rachin Ravindra got hold of the ball and destroyed the middle
order, but the 7 and 8 were unflappable and finished the extra session with 27
overs.
On a grassy surface, captain Neil Brand surprised
everyone by choosing to bat first and use two spinners in the opening overs.
“All the wickets have been green and it tends to burn off after a couple
of days,” he stated. South Africa, repeating their feat from 2017,
are the only side to have done it in the last ten years at Hamilton.
On the other hand, New Zealand selected four seamers,
among them their captain Tim Southee, who declared that he would have taken the
ball first had they won the toss. Will Young replaced the injured Daryl
Mitchell for the hosts. After Kyle Jamieson pulled up sore after the first
Test, William O’Rourke was given his debut, while Neil Wagner replaced Mitchell
Santner.
The golden duck that was Clyde Fortuin’s ascension to
the top didn’t come with any benefits. He showed off his skills against Matt
Henry, and Glenn Phillips stunned Gully with a one-handed move. While Southee
discovered swing and Henry caused problems for the batsmen with seam movement,
Brand and Raynard van Tonder left the ball confidently, unfazed by the ball’s
occasional beating of them.
Brand used visually appealing punches through the
offside to capitalise on balls that were pitched too high. O’Rourke, who was
called on as a rookie in the ninth over, was occasionally the victim, but he
also managed to pin the captain in front of middle with a length ball that
nipped back beyond the inside edge.
The second session was like a psychology experiment,
with Hamza and David Bedingham prepared to blunt out the bowling even if the
runs had stopped. When Ravindra was brought on in the 36th over, he began his
stint with four maidens while Henry and O’Rourke retained their lines and
lengths.
Occasionally, the ball would beat the bat, and when a
shot was middled, it would go straight to the fielders. South Africa scored 12
runs between overs 31 and 44, for a combined total of 33 runs in 154 balls
between the two.
But after two overs, Ravindra’s loopy wide ball and
Hamza’s patience were both swiped past the line, and suddenly, Hamza holed out
to backward point for a 99-ball 20. Then, after forcing Keegan Petersen to push
out at a length ball and get caught at slip, Ravindra continued his bad run of
form.
From then on, it was all dots and boundaries until
teatime, but one rare bright spot that South Africa could take away from a
tough session was de Swardt’s initiative followed by resolute defence.