Will Proteas pile on the runs by the Basin-ful?

TIM SOUTHEE could not have said it better in the build-up to the second Test against the Proteas in New Zealand’s capital city.

“You can’t beat the Basin on a fine day,” stated the blond Kiwi fast bowler.

Southee was certainly on point with the opening day, played under clear blue skies and not a hint of the wind Wellington is notorious for. I did not have the pleasure of being at the Basin Reserve yesterday. I was bleary-eyed, under a blanket on my couch at home watching the Test in the wee hours.

But listening to Ian Smith on commentary when a drone displayed what Wellingtonians call “HQ” and its scenic surrounds in all their splendour, with the former Test wicketkeeper exclaiming “This is Wellington! Wellington!” immediately took me back to when I was there for the corresponding Test five years ago.

The Basin Reserve has a rustic charm that has seen it rated “the best cricket ground” in New Zealand by the country’s leading scribes. It has a great sense of history with its old scoreboard and popular grass banks, while the New Zealand Cricket museum on the premises adds a certain grandeur.

There are also not many Test venues – if any – around the world which operate as a public park on non-match days, with cyclists using it as a thoroughfare en route to work on a daily basis.

But any cricket ground worth its entrance fee is judged on the 22 yards of carefully prepared real estate in the centre. And it is for this very reason that I adore the old Basin.

Captains routinely send the opposition in on a surface that bears more than a passing resemblance to the outfield – like Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis did yesterday – before it transforms into a haven for batsmen for the duration of the Test match.

Recent Tests at the venue have allowed batsmen to “fill their boots” on days two, three and four and South Africa’s batting unit should take confidence from this.

Although much may have happened by the time you read this with the Proteas batting “overnight”, Bangladesh’s 595/8 which preceded the Kiwis’ 539 just two months ago provided ample evidence that conditions for batting will be the most favourable over the coming days.

Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib-al-Hasan struck a double-century on the second day of that Test, while other impressive batting feats (after the first day of matches) include the now-retired Adam Voges’ 239 for Australia last year and Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara’s beautiful 203 in 2015.

However, the locals will never forget a memorable couple of days back in 2014 when former skipper Brendon McCullum became the first-ever Black Caps triple-centurion with a masterful 302.

It certainly bodes well for the Proteas, who I believe dodged a bullet yesterday when spin duo JP Duminy and Keshav Maharaj took six wickets between them after the quicks wasted an impressive start.

There are Proteas batsmen who need to spend some time at the crease. Hashim Amla, Duminy, Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock will hope it is only the wind, which will inevitably return, which blows off their bails.