New Zealand’s batting shattered again – 2nd Test vs. South Africa

New Zealand 6-47 (BJ Watling 15*, Brendon McCullum 13, Robin Peterson 2-2) trail South Africa 8-525 declared (Faf du Plessis 137, Hashim Amla 110, Dean Elgar 103*, Doug Bracewell 3-94) by 478 runs.

The lethal bowling from the South African bowlers continued in the 2nd Test when they grabbed six wickets of New Zealand cheaply after tons from three home batsmen.

The Proteas hammered 525 runs for the loss of 8 wickets when Graeme Smith declared the first innings and the Black Caps were reeling at 6-47 in 24 overs.

The second day’s play came to an end on Saturday, January 12, 2013, at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth.

Earlier, the hosts started their innings at 4-325 from 90 overs, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis were unbeaten on 106 and 69 respectively. The batsmen found it difficult to attack from the beginning and they added just 11 runs in the first seven overs. Hashim Amla was gone after scoring 110 runs off 235 balls with 8 fours and was replaced by Dean Elgar. Faf du Plessis survived a leg before wicket review in the 104th over as Elgar hit a couple of fours three overs later. The pair kept on cruising and took the score to 390 after 119 overs when lunch was taken, du Plessis was one short of his hundred and Elgar was at the other end at 31.

Faf du Plessis smashed his second century in his fourth Test with a grand six over long-on in the first over after the lunch break. Dean Elgar reached his first Test fifty in the 127th over and the sixth wicket partnership of 131 runs enhanced the score to 467. Faf du Plessis was caught by Brendon McCullum off Colin Munro for 137 from 252 deliveries with 2 sixes and 14 fours.

Dean Elgar - Maiden Test ton
Dean Elgar – Maiden Test ton

Dean Elgar took over from there as a couple of wickets fell in during his onslaught. He thrashed his maiden Test ton in his only third match by hitting a four on the fifth ball of the 154th over. Elgar was still at the crease for 103 off 170 comprising 1 six and 14 fours as Graeme Smith preferred to declare the innings at 525 in 153.5 overs.

Doug Bracewell was the supreme bowler with three wickets, Colin Munro held two whereas Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Jeetan Patel shared one wicket each.

The miserable batting of the Kiwis continued when they lost two wickets for just eight runs in 4.4 overs. The skipper Brendon McCullum and Dean Brownlie got together and they hit two fours each until the first ball of the 14th over. They pushed the score to 27 when Brownlie lost his wicket for 10 and the next batsman, Daniel Flynn followed him at the same score without opening his account.

BJ Watling came in next at a critical situation and hit 2 fours as McCullum was caught by Jacques Kallis off Robin Peterson for 13 scored from 59 deliveries. The fifth wicket fell at 39 on the second ball of the 21st over and the next batsman multiplied the miseries of the visitors by surrendering at the same score on the very next delivery. BJ Watling was in the center with 15 supported by Doug Bracewell on 3 runs as the Black Caps slipped to 6-47 after 24 overs.

Dale Steyn, Rory Klienveldt and Robin Peterson shared the honour of  bowling with two wickets each.

South Africa is in a strong position and can foresee another win in the match while New Zealand requires a few magical innings from their batsmen to save the game.


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.