Tag: New Zealand vs South Africa

HAMILTON: New Zealand won a Test series against South Africa for the first time with Kane Williamson hitting an unbeaten century on Friday to steer them to a seven-wicket victory in the second Test.

Williamson’s unbeaten 133 was at the heart of their 269-3 in the fourth innings of a tight Test to complete a 2-0 series win over the understrength tourists.

The Black Caps hadn’t beaten the Proteas in 17 previous Test series dating back to 1931, having lost 13 and drawn four.

The 33-year-old Williamson was methodical throughout a 260-ball stay, putting on an unbroken stand of 152 with Will Young, who scored 60 not out, as New Zealand reached their target of 267 late on day four.

The in-form Williamson scored his seventh century in his last seven Tests, which included twin tons in the 281-run first Test victory at Mount Maunganui.

His 32 centuries have come from 172 innings, surpassing Australia’s Steve Smith (174 innings) as the fastest player in Test history to reach that milestone.

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Williamson batted through the day after New Zealand resumed at 40-1, adopting a disciplined approach on a tricky pitch, but was always prepared to punish loose deliveries, scoring 12 fours and two sixes.

New Zealand seamer Will O’Rourke finished with nine wickets on his Test debut to earn the man-of-the-match award with Williamson named player of the series.

New Zealand briefly wobbled when opener Tom Latham was dismissed in the first session for 30 and Rachin Ravindra soon after lunch for 20, but Young dug in to reach his seventh half-century.

The inexperienced Proteas struggled to make an impact aside from Dane Piedt, who finished with 3-93 to give him eight scalps in his first Test in more than four years.

Offspinner Piedt struck early by removing Latham, the opener caught by Zubayr Hamza driving to short cover after adding nine to his overnight score.

Ravindra was undone by a near-identical shot after New Zealand had resumed the second session at 107-2.

South Africa were fielding a side missing the majority of their first-choice players, who skipped the series to instead contest their lucrative domestic Twenty20 league.

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HAMILTON: Dane Piedt dismantled the strong New Zealand batting unit with a maiden five-wicket haul to give inexperienced South Africa a lead on Day 2 of the ongoing second Test here on Wednesday.

New Zealand’s strong batting lineup succumbed to a disciplined South African bowling attack, led by Piedt, who was recalled to the Test team after a gap of four years.

The spinner returned career-best Test figures of 5-89 as the hosts folded on a mere 211 in response to South Africa’s 242.

A fruitful day with the ball opened the prospect for an inexperienced South Africa to square off the two-match series after facing a 281-run thrashing in the first Test at Mount Maunganui.

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Notably, South Africa never lost a Test series against New Zealand but most of their first-choice players remained at home to participate in the domestic franchise league, SA20.

Meanwhile, Piedt, who failed to make a cut into the Playing XI in the first Test, claimed prized scalps of Kane Williamson (43) and Tom Latham (40) after lunch to halt New Zealand’s progress, who reached 75-1 at the conclusion of the opening session.

He then removed Glenn Phillips (four) and Will Young (36), before dismissing Neil Wagner, who offered late resilience with a gutsy 33 off just 27 deliveries.

Piedt was supported by pacer Dane Paterson, who returned figures of 3/39 to add further to the misery of the dominant hosts.

South Africa resumed their first innings at 220/6 but lost their remaining four wickets in just 8.2 overs after adding a mere 21 runs.

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PAARL: South Africa women’s team rekindled their home T20 World Cup campaign with a dominant 65-run victory over New Zealand in a Group A fixture on Monday, thanks to an exceptional bowling effort.

Spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba led the charge with three wickets as South Africa bundled out New Zealand for a paltry 67 in the second innings. 

Electing to bat first, the home side scored 132/6 in the 20 overs after Chloe Tryon salvaged with a 34-ball 40 in the middle before Nadine de Klerk made an unbeaten 28 from 26 balls.

South African bowlers, however, dominated the game afterwards and wreaked havoc on New Zealand’s batting line, offering them no width to sneak back into the game.

Mlaba unsettled the White Ferns right from the start, taking a wicket in each of her first two overs as New Zealand slumped to 7/2 inside three overs with both openers Bernadine Bezuidenhout and Suzie Bates back in the hut on a duck. 

Marizanne Kapp then dismissed Georgia Plimmer (7 from 12) in the 4th over before Ayabonga Khaka took the crucial wicket of Amelia Kerr (10 off 12) in the next.

New Zealand never looked in control of the chase as eight of their batters did not even cross the single digit.

Skipper Sophie Divine’s unsettling stay offered no significant help too as she gathered a mere 16 from 26 balls while the rest of the batters failed miserably.

Earlier South Africa were defeated by Sri Lanka in the opening match of the tournament.

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