South Africa stun Black Caps on day two of second test in Hamilton

Wednesday, 14 February 2024

Second test, at Seddon Park, Hamilton: South Africa 242 (Ruan de Swardt 64; Will O’Rourke 4-59) versus New Zealand 211 (Kane Williamson 43, Tom Latham 40; Dane Piedt 5-89, Dane Paterson 3-39). Click here for full scoreboard

The Black Caps have said all along they expected South Africa to betray their 'written off' status and fiercely defend their record of never having lost a test series to their rivals.

Now those words are clearly not just hollow platitudes - as the most hardened cynics may have suggested - as a prospective test series triumph for the hosts in Hamilton teeters.

At stumps, New Zealand had been bowled out in their first innings for a miserable 211, after South Africa were dismissed for 242 in the first session of day two on Wednesday.

New Zealand won the first test of the two-match series in Mount Maunganui last week by 281 runs and were expected to repeat the dose in Hamilton to claim a 2-0 series win - the first in their test history over the Proteas in 17 attempts.

The underdogs got plenty of bite from two great Danes on day two at Seddon Park. Crafty off-spinner Dane Piedt - bizarrely not selected for the first test at Bay Oval - captured 5-89 while seamer Dane Paterson took 3-39 from 17 overs.

Against a bowling line-up which wouldn’t be within cooee of a test place if it wasn’t for South Africa’s top players contesting the just-completed domestic T20 competition, the home side’s batters failed on a number of fronts - application and shot selection high among that.

What seemed like a relatively simple task of seeing off the understrength tourists to make history and then tackling the upcoming two-test series against Australia has suddenly become a pitched battle.

What national selection manager Sam Wells and head coach Gary Stead wouldn’t have expected at the start of the summer was a discussion over the form and place of Devon Conway.

The opener made a three-ball duck, edging Paterson through to keeper Clyde Fortuin, to continue a rotten run which has seen him tally just 117 runs for the national side in his past 11 knocks in all formats.

Just when Will Young - batting at No 5 in this test with Daryl Mitchell out injured - looked like stating a strong case as a contender for an opening spot versus the trans-Tasman rivals, he blotted his credentials with an ill-advised attempt to deposit Piedt over the long-on boundary which resulted in his dismissal for 36.

New Zealand’s top order were all troubled by Paterson, who showed why he has more than 550 first-class wickets with a brilliant display of nibbling and weaving the ball around to cause regular consternation from even a batter as accomplished and in-form as Kane Williamson.

Tom Latham survived a ‘celebrappeal’ from Paterson and had another narrow escape soon after, only to eventually fall to Piedt’s wiles for 40. When Williamson (43) inside-edged a delivery from Piedt onto his leg and into the hands of close-in fielder Raynard van Tonder, the hosts were 86-3 and the ship was taking on a little water.

Ravindra (29) and Young added 61 for the fourth wicket, but last test’s double century-maker played with freedom and perished the same way and the hosts lost 6-38 as the sinking feeling grew.

Neil Wagner’s late defiance - he made 33 from 27 balls at No 10 - reduced the first innings deficit to 31, but it was little consolation given realistic expectations.

At the start of day two, any plans the visiting side had of greatly extending the pesky partnership between Ruan de Swardt and Shaun von Berg for the seventh wicket were quickly ruined by Will O’Rourke.

The test debutant was vastly more efficient in slicing through the tail than his vastly-more experienced team-mates were with the second new ball the previous evening.

The Cantabrian bowled 26 balls on Wednesday morning and took 3-12 in that spell, having von Berg and de Swardt playing onto their stumps before ending the innings when tailender Paterson fell to a wild swipe.

He finished with figures of 4-59 from 18.2 overs and with Kyle Jamieson again under an ominously dark injury cloud, has jumped into serious contention for a run against Australia at the Basin Reserve at the end of the month.

Now O’Rourke - and his senior team-mates - will have to excel with the ball on Thursday to make up for badly squandered ground.