Published: Mar 10, 2017, 03:14 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 16, 2017, 02:55 PM (IST)
Hello, good morning and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates post for the third day’s play in the opening Test between New Zealand and South Africa. The opening Test of the three-match series is being played at the University Oval in Dunedin. This is Rohan Arun Sawant, bringing you the live cricket scores and updates from the third day’s play, which could tell us a lot about where this contest is headed. South Africa are leading New Zealand by 131 runs, and unless the Kiwis suffer a batting collapse, they are set to take a lead in the first innings. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD, New Zealand vs South Africa, 1st Test at Dunedin
For New Zealand to take a lead, they will have to bat with the same passion they did on the second day. Jeet Raval and Kane Williamson dropped the anchor to add 102 runs for the second wicket, after the Kiwis lost Tom Latham once again for a cheap score. Latham is going through a rough patch and runs are hard to come by for the opener, but he is expected to put his poor run behind anytime soon. At stumps, Williamson was unbeaten on 78, accompanied by nightwatchman Jeetan Patel batting on 9 not out as New Zealand provided South Africa with a strong reply. The visiting side was bowled out for a mere 308 with Dean Elgar scoring close to half the runs.
Elgar faced 299 balls and cracked 24 boundaries to score 140, which was not the only bright spot in the South African innings, though. Faf du Plessis continued his good form with the bat, clobbering 7 boundaries to score 52 off 118 balls, but it was the innings of 64 from Temba Bavuma which would have brought a huge sigh of relief in the South African camp. Bavuma has had a string of failures in Test cricket, but he showed tremendous character to bat for as long as 164 balls and hitting 10 boundaries in the process. For New Zealand, Trent Boult took 4 for 64, Neil Wagner got 3 for 88 and Patel claimed 2 for 85.
Jimmy Neesham snaffled 1 for 34. Vernon Philander provided South Africa with an early breakthrough when he had Latham caught behind by Quinton de Kock for 10. This was when Raval and Williamson got along and put New Zealand on the path for a strong reply. Raval fell after scoring 52, facing 102 balls and hitting 6 boundaries in the process. Williamson, who is batting on 78, has so far cracked 11 boundaries and faced 146 balls. There is some concern for New Zealand as Ross Taylor limped off the field and it remains unclear whether he will bat once again or not.
Teams:
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, James Neesham, BJ Watling (wk), Mitchell Santner, Neil Wagner, Jeetan Patel, Trent Boult.
South Africa: Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis (c), Jean-Paul Duminy, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel.
LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD, New Zealand vs South Africa, 1st Test at Dunedin
