Published: Mar 18, 2017, 01:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 18, 2017, 11:30 AM (IST)
Hello, good morning and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates of the third day’s play from the second Test of the three-match series between New Zealand and South Africa. This is Vishal Mehra, and I will be bringing you the live cricket scores and posts of the exhilarating contest being played at Basin Reserve, Wellington. Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma stole the show away from New Zealand to put their team in a dominating position by the end of Day Two at 349 for 9. South Africa still have Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel at the crease who have put up a 47-run unbeaten stand for the last wicket extending South Africa’s lead over the hosts by 81 runs. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD, New Zealand vs South Africa, 2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington
South Africa resumed Day Two with the overnight score of 24 for 2 with Hashim Amla and nightwatchman Kagiso Rabada at the crease. But the Kiwi quicks struck quickly and got wickets at regular intervals. Amla (21), JP Duminy (19), Faf du Plessis (22), the batting stalwarts, perished quickly putting South Africa in a precarious situation early on. South Africa were tottering at 94 on 6, but sensible batting from de Kock and Bavuma saw South Africa easily surpassing the New Zealand total.
Colin de Grandhomme and Neil Wagner played a pivotal role, getting the crucial wickets early in the game. They received enough of swing and bounce from the wicket which kept probing the South Africa top-order in the first session constantly. But as the overs passed by, the wicket became flat with swing reducing as the ball became old. Despite this, both Wagner and de Grandhomme were breathing fire having got important wickets in the first session. But Bavuma and de Kock batted out the tough hour excellently, not poking at anything that went away from them.
But the persistence of both the batsmen paid off and as the session passed by, de Kock and Bavuma eased into the game scoring runs freely. Both were then involved in careless shots to throw away their wickets. But Philander and Morkel have batted well by the end of day’s play, scoring valuable 47 runs towards the end.
Day Three will have a lot at stake for New Zealand. The hosts have been outplayed in the majority of the game as they first disappointed with bat scoring just 268 and then losing the grip of the game against de Kock and Bavuma.
Kane Williamson and his men will have to play to the best of their ability to keep their challenge alive in this Test and also in the series. Where for South Africa, they would be hoping to get as many runs they can from Philander and Morkel in the first session and then try bowling out New Zealand paving the path for what will be an emphatic victory.
