Published: Mar 11, 2017, 08:48 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 11, 2017, 08:53 AM (IST)
Riding on opener Dean Elgar’s eighth Test fifty, South Africa reached to 157 for 3 against New Zealand at the end of the second session in the first Test at Dunedin. South Africa lost JP Duminy (39) early in the second innings but since South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis (16*) who walked in at No. 4 played resilient cricket along with Elgar (73*) to see off the second session with a well-earned lead of 124 runs. Elgar and du Plessis have now built a 44 runs partnership for the 4th wicket handing their team an upper hand at a very crucial juncture of the game. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD, New Zealand vs South Africa, 1st Test at Dunedin
Resuming from the score of 100 for 2, Elgar and Duminy started the second session on the scores of 40 and 32 respectively. With no reviews left, the hosts’ bowling department had already endured a frustrating first session. So for them to come back in the game, they needed quick wickets to put some pressure on the visiting side. So Kane Williamson deployed Neil Wagner and Trent Boult back in the attack. This move of deploying two pacers looked fruitful as both started getting the ball to reverse swing immediately. This bore fruits instantly as Wagner pinned Duminy around his pads. Wagner bowled a back of length delivery which nipped back in trapping Duminy.
This wicket also broke the 74-runs between Elgar and Duminy. Du Plessis walked at No. 4 at the time when his team had 113 runs on the board with 2 wickets down with New Zealand bowlers probing the visitors. Du Plessis himself took 16 deliveries to get off the mark as New Zealand pacer duo looked lethal in every possible way.
But Elgar and du Plessis resorted to letting the ball go into wicketkeeper’s gloves and not poking at anything that swung away from them or was pitched outside off. These tactics from the South African batting pair worked eventually and Kane Williamson introduced Jeetan Patel and Mitchell Santner into attack hoping to change the course of things.
The course of things changed but for South Africa, as both batsmen started scoring runs in a flurry dispatching deliveries to boundary ropes whichever were pitched outside off. There were also some close calls which included edges flying in the slip cordon but eventually being dropped or falling into gaps.
With a 124-run lead with one more session to pass on Day Four, South Africa might go for the aggressive approach in the last session and amass a maximum number of runs by the end of the day only to ask New Zealand to bat for last few overs of the day.
As for New Zealand, their fielding has let them down with numerous of a number of chances being dropped in the first and second session. Williamson would be hoping for a fresh approach yet again at the start of the third session which would get them big wickets quickly to get some lost grip back on the game.
Brief scores:
South Africa 308 & 157 for 3 (Dean Elgar 73*, JP Duminy 39, Faf du Plessis 16*; Neil 2 for 38, Trent Boult 1 for 24) lead New Zealand 341 (Jeet Raval 52, Kane Williamson 130, BJ Watling 50; Keshav Maharaj 5 for 94) by 124 runs.
