Black Caps show no mercy as Proteas are put to the sword in first Test

In the wake of New Zealand’s 281-runs hammering of South Africa in the first Test, the future of Test cricket very quickly came into the spotlight at Mt Maunganui on Wednesday, but Black Caps skipper Tim Southee was quick to dismiss concerns. 

“The Test game is as exciting as it has ever been. We were privileged to see that (just over) a week ago, with two great Test matches. I think it’s a unique situation with the timing and the scheduling of this Test series,” Southee said. 

Plenty has been said in the build-up to the series about Cricket South Africa’s decision to send a weakened team to New Zealand as it seeks to established the SA20 as a profitable tournament that will hopefully solve that organisation’s financial problems, but a loss for the national men’s team — still the primary source of revenue for the sport in this country — will sting. 

The players and head coach Shukri Conrad spoke bravely before the Test about how they could rely on their first class knowledge, but with six debutants and only two players in the starting side with double figures for Test caps, they faced a struggle steeper than the difficult route open to tourists to climb Mt Maunganui. 

South Africa’s severely depleted team were able to hold onto New Zealand for the first two sessions of the match, but were obliterated thereafter, with Kane Williamson showing his class with two centuries, Rachin Ravindra underlining his promise with a double hundred, two wickets and a fine boundary catch, while Southee led New Zealand’s disciplined attack and exposed the inexperience at Test level of the Proteas batting line-up.

Of course the Proteas didn’t help themselves by spilling two chances which gave lives to Williamson and Ravindra before they’d reached their first innings hundreds.

“It's very deflating,” Proteas captain Neil Brand said of the outcome.

“We gave them chances and who knows what would have been (had we taken those).” 

Getting bowled out for 162 in the first innings proved fatal for the tourists.

“Our first innings was a massive downer, obviously,” said David Bedingham.

New Zealand’s stump to stump line in the first innings, which restricted scoring and frustrated the Proteas batters, was in use again with the new ball in the second innings. Then they switched to a bouncer ploy on a placid surface which again tested the patience of the tourist batters, and with more than enough runs to work with, it was a plan they could employ for an extended period. 

Bedingham, who top-scored in the Proteas second innings with 87 off 96 balls, sought to nullify that plan with aggression, flailing the Kiwi bowlers to different parts of the Bay Oval on Wednesday.

“We thought (Neil) Wagner would play and we were expecting the (short ball) tactic at some stage and had an hour-long session (at training last week) where all the batters had a method for how they wanted to go about it. Mine was that one,” said Bedingham, who struck 13 fours and three sixes.

“Matt Henry was bowling and I was blocking and feeling quite uncomfortable, and I said to myself ‘I practised it so I may as well go and do it. If it works it works.’ I feel it's gutsy because if you get out like that early it won’t look great, but I thought, ‘it’s fine I’d take (the criticism) on the chin’. I’m glad it worked for an extended period of time but I’m also disappointed in the way I went out.”

He was out pulling Kyle Jamieson to the deep midwicket, and while the absence of a milestone was disappointing, at least it was in keeping with how he wanted to approach his innings. 

Overall, this was a match and a series in which South Africa are on a hiding to nothing. While Australia were caught out by the understrength West Indies in Brisbane, New Zealand avoided any sense of complacency, showing due care and excellent discipline. 

“They absorbed a lot of pressure in the first two sessions and gave it back to us later when our guys were tired,” said Bedingham.