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CHRISTCHURCH: South Africa completed an extraordinary turnaround in form when they beat New Zealand by 198 runs in the second Test on Tuesday to square the two-match series.
After setting New Zealand a target of 426, South Africa bowled out the home team for 227 to win with more than a session remaining at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
New Zealand won the first Test by an innings and 276 runs, bowling out South Africa for 95 and 111 at the same venue.
As if to defy that result, South Africa captain Dean Elgar made the bold decision to bat on winning the toss in the second Test. Determined to atone for the first Test loss, the Proteas held the upper hand for most of the next five days.
“It was a bold decision and one we had to take as a unit,” Elgar said. “Luckily it paid off. It was something which could have backfired and I would have looked like an absolute idiot.
“This is a big win in the context of playing away from home, being 1-0 down and being beaten within two and a half days in the first Test and then bouncing back to what we’ve done now.”
A century by Sarel Erwee laid the base for a first innings 364, South Africa pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada took five for 60 as New Zealand folded 71 in arrears and an unbeaten 136 from Kyle Verreynne in the second innings tightened the clamp on New Zealand.
A disappointed New Zealand captain Tom Latham, who saw the chance of a history-making first series win over South Africa slip away, put the blame on his batsmen.
“Our blueprint is about putting a big first innings score on the board, if we were able to do that things might look slightly different,” he said.
“Unfortunately we were not able to build partnerships in the first or second innings.”
New Zealand resumed on 94 for four in the morning and there was a flicker of hope of saving the match as they reached lunch at 180 for five after an 85-run partnership between Devon Conway and Tom Blundell ended shortly before lunch when the former went leg before wicket for 92.
However, the resistance was broken when wicket-keeper Blundell (44) and all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme (18) surrendered with loose shots after the break, and the Black Caps bowed out losing 6-61.
Rabada was Man-of-the-Match after taking eight wickets and blasting 47 runs in the second innings as the tourists piled on 354 for nine declared to set up the win.
Rabada’s pace comrade Marco Jansen grabbed three final-day wickets to finish with seven for the match, while spinner Keshav Maharaj was influential with 3-75 in the second innings.
New Zealand’s hopes of salvaging a draw rose again at 227 for nine when rain forced the players from the field, but it was a brief respite.
The South African-born Conway, who averages a remarkable 63.91 from 12 innings, had added 32 to his overnight 60 and was in sight of his fourth Test century when Lutho Sipamla claimed the wicket with a pinpoint yorker.
Blundell pressed on with de Grandhomme and went to lunch looking set on 44 only to be removed soon after the resumption without adding to his score. He mistimed striking a short ball from Jansen and skied it to Temba Bavuma at midwicket. It started a rich spell for Jansen who also took the wickets of de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson (12).
Rabada removed Tim Southee and Maharaj ended the match with Matt Henry lbw for nought.
It was a disappointing result for New Zealand after their comprehensive win in the first Test and who were searching for a first ever series win against South Africa. They went into the Test with an unchanged side, relying on a pace attack and no spinner which has become customary on the usually emerald Hagley Oval wicket.
But South Africa noted the second Test wicket was more khaki than green, promoted left-armer Maharaj into the starting eleven and he became a significant point of difference.
Maharaj set the stage in the second innings when he was introduced early and bowled top-order batsmen Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell after Rabada had claimed openers Latham and Will Young. He then finished off the Test with Henry’s wicket to leave New Zealand yet again without a series win over South Africa after 17 attempts over 90 years.
“It’s never easy playing against New Zealand and we knew what we had to do … I’m glad that we could get the job done,” said Rabada.
Scoreboard
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 364
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 293
SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings) 354-9 dec
NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings, overnight 94-4)
T. Latham c van der Dussen b Rabada 1
W. Young c Bavuma b Rabada 0
D. Conway lbw Sipamla 92
H. Nicholls b Maharaj 7
D. Mitchell b Maharaj 24
T. Blundell c Bavuma b Jansen 44
C. de Grandhomme c Mulder b Jansen 18
K. Jamieson c Rabada b Jansen 12
T. Southee c Sipamla b Rabada 17
N. Wagner not out 10
M. Henry lbw Kagiso 0
EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-1) 2
TOTAL (all out, 93.5 overs) 227
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Young), 2-6 (Latham), 3-25 (Nicholls), 4-81 (Mitchell), 5-166 (Conway), 6-187 (Blundell), 7-188 (de Grandhomme), 8-201 (Jamieson), 9-220 (Southee), 10-227 (Henry).
BOWLING: Rabada 19-5-46-3 (1nb), Jansen 23-6-63-3, Maharaj 31.5-9-75-3, Sipamla 14-5-29-1, Mulder 6-1-13-0.
RESULT: South Africa won by 198 runs.
SERIES: Series ended in 1-1 draw.
UMPIRES: Chris Brown and Wayne Knights (Both New Zealand).
TV UMPIRE: Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand).
MATCH REFEREE: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).