Petersen reflects on lessons learnt from Test great Kane Williamson

Facing a deficit of 528 runs three days into a Test for which expectations, from the outside at least were very low, the Proteas are philosophical about their lot.

“It is definitely a wicket we can try to look to survive. It will be a tough task to do it for two days, but that is the hand we have been dealt,” Keegan Petersen mused after the conclusion of the third day’s play in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday.

The gulf in class and experience between the two teams has been frighteningly evident over the course of the three days. From Kane Williamson providing proof of his status as one of Test cricket’s great batters to Rachin Ravindra’s burgeoning talent and New Zealand’s overall street-smarts, it has been a humbling experience.

Williamson’s historic performance, becoming the fifth player from New Zealand to score hundreds in both innings of a Test, has provided evidence of the magnitude of the task facing the South Africans.

In pure numerical terms Williamson has outscored the South Africans 227 runs to 162, he has batted for nearly 70 overs

— just three shy of the total SA managed in their first innings — and has spent almost 10 hours at the crease, nearly double the time the SA innings lasted.

Williamson, said Petersen, has provided the template for how to be successful on a tricky pitch, where pace is lacking, and as the South Africans will find out over the last two days, the ball is increasingly staying low.

Patience was another big lesson the Kiwi great provided.

Petersen batted for more than two hours to make 45, his highest Test score since scoring 64 against Bangladesh in Gqeberha two years ago. He got out chasing runs while batting with the tail, so his dismissal is forgivable. David Bedingham’s wasn’t.

Much has been made of the SA players’ first-class experience, a point Petersen reiterated on Tuesday, but Bedingham, who made 32, batted like a rookie, which in Test terms he is, but not first-class cricket.

He should have learnt in those matches that patience is crucial. He showed none of it on day three at Bay Oval, as in the sixth over of the day he played an ugly hoick, getting a leading edge and offering a simple catch to mid-off.

“It’s something new to all of us. I haven’t played many Tests and I’m trying to find my feet too. Hopefully they can learn from this experience and take it forward,”*said Petersen.