South Africa, needing to win the second Test in Hamilton to square the series, have struck early this morning, with New Zealand opener Devon Conway’s woes with the bat continuing.
The left hander was out for a three-ball duck when caught behind in the first over at Seddon Park as the Black Caps began their reply to the Proteas’ 242 all out.
It brought Kane Williamson to the crease to join Tom Latham, the pair safely taking New Zealand through to 27-1 at lunch.
Five wickets fell in the morning session – in contrast to yesterday when South Africa poked and prodded their way to 220-6 at stumps, with debutant fast bowler Will O’Rourke doing the damage with three of them, leaving him poised on a hat-trick when he takes to the field in the second innings.
O’Rourke began his run by bowling Shaun von Berg with the score 227, with skipper Tim Southee, luckless yesterday, having Dane Piedt caught behind four runs later.
O’Rourke cleaned up the tail by bowling Ruan de Swardt for 64 and had Dane Paterson caught behind with his next ball, the No.11 batter taking a wild swipe.
The 22-year-old had his first wicket in Tests when dismissing South Africa skipper Neil Brand LBW yesterday morning but struggled a little with his length in the afternoon.
Today, he bowled fuller and reaped the benefits, finishing with the impressive figures of 4-59 off 18.2 overs.
In all, South Africa’s final four wickets fell for 15 runs, a curious collapse after the determination shown by de Swardt and von Berg in putting on a partnership of 77 which began the afternoon before.
Conway, meanwhile, could be forgiven for wondering where his next substantial innings is coming from after his brief appearance this morning.
His 29 in the second innings of the first Test at Bay Oval was his highest score in Tests since a 78 against Sri Lanka in Wellington last March.
Since then he scored 22, 11, 2 and 1 in four innings against Bangladesh and 1 in the first innings against South Africa at Bay Oval.
New Zealand have never beaten South Africa in a Test series.
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