All paceman’s hard work undone by batting collapse
THE MASTER and the apprentice have some serious work to do.
After another day of punch and counter-punch in an absorbing second test, Daniel Vettori and Kane Williamson will stride on to home turf this morning with a serious recovery job beckoning.
New Zealand lurched to stumps at 65-4 in their second innings, still trailing South Africa by three runs after 24 wickets tumbled in the first two days at Seddon Park.
Those Hamiltonians who have Sunday tickets will likely be requiring a refund as the series looks set to head to Wellington with South Africa 1-0 up.
New Zealand landed some decent jabs yesterday, notably the recalled Mark Gillespie’s career-best 5-59, which saw the tourists dismissed for 250 on a pitch hardly giving the batsmen nightmares.
But class prevailed. Trailing by 68, New Zealand were hurled to the brink of defeat when they slumped to 7-3. Captain Ross Taylor (17 in 105 minutes) helped Williamson (41 not out) add a steady 57 but another killer blow was struck by Dale Steyn in the third-last over before stumps.
A nasty reverse swinging yorker trapped Taylor in front and it was back to square one.
A mere 24 hours wasn’t enough time to shake off the mental scarring from Thursday’s five-for-none collapse against the world’s best new ball duo, Steyn and Vernon Philander.
They needed little encouragement. Within 25 deliveries of New Zealand’s second dig, the top three were back in the pavilion.
Rob Nicol required luck on his side, not against him. His eighth delivery, from Philander, trickled from the pad inexorably towards the base of off stump.
It was Philander’s 40th wicket, in his sixth test. With 28 runs from four test innings, Nicol’s confidence is dipping and his spot for Friday’s third test must be under scrutiny.
Brendon Mccullum was trapped in front by Philander, then, next ball, Martin Guptill chipped Steyn to midwicket. Seven for three.
For all the focus on Nicol’s struggles, Guptill is in a worrying run of test form. Dominant against the white ball this summer, Guptill’s eight test innings against Australia and South Africa have reaped 89 runs at 11.13.
Earlier this season, the MccullumGuptill union looked a solid long-term solution for the troublesome opening spots. Now with Mccullum’s shift to three, and the form struggles of the other pair, it’s becoming an issue again. No openers are demanding inclusion from domestic cricket.
‘‘The boys are really disappointed. We fought really hard to get back in this contest,’’ New Zealand bowling coach Damien Wright said.