South Africa won the second and final Test against New Zealand in Christchurch by 227 runs as they leveled the series 1-1, denying the Blackcaps their first-ever series win against the Proteas.
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In the first Test at the Hagley Oval, South Africa was bowled out for 95 and 111 in just three days against New Zealand. For a while, it seemed that New Zealand would finally end 90 years of pain against the Proteas in Tests. Ever since they started playing Test cricket with each other in 1932, South Africa has always held the upper hand against the New Zealand team both at home and away.
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In the previous Test, New Zealand had eliminated 18 years of pain when they defeated South Africa by an innings to take a 1-0 lead in the series. But, this Proteas outfit has shown that they can never be counted out in Test cricket. A magnificent performance by Sarel Erwee in the first innings saw South Africa take the initiative. But, Kagiso Rabada laid New Zealand low with a haul of 5/60 and he was well supported by Marco Jansen’s 4/98. Despite Colin de Grandhomme’s century, New Zealand had conceded a big lead.
Kyle Verreynne’s 136, which was the fourth-highest total by a South Africa wicketkeeper in away Tests, saw South Africa put the contest out of New Zealand’s hands. Rabada, Jansen, and Keshav Maharaj ensured that South Africa continued their prolonged dominance of New Zealand in Test cricket as they leveled the two-match series 1-1 with a 227-run win on Tuesday.
For New Zealand, this was their second loss in 11 Tests played at the Hagley Oval since 2014. New Zealand had established a four-game winning streak but that came to an end in this match against South Africa. Prior to this loss, their previous defeat at Christchurch came in 2016 against Australia. In what was Brendon McCullum’s final Test, Australia romped home to a seven-wicket win. But, not before McCullum had rewritten the history books with a brilliant 54-ball ton, the fastest century in Test history.
In this match, it was South Africa’s lower order that stung New Zealand. In the first innings, they went from 302/8 to 364 thanks to Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen’s cameos. During the second innings, South Africa was on the ropes at 192/6 to 354/9 declared. The last three wickets contributed 162 runs.
New Zealand’s lower order, unlike the previous Test, had failed to put on lower-order partnerships which hurt them. This was a point that New Zealand skipper Tom Latham stressed in the post-match press conference. “We were not able to build enough partnerships and weren’t able to put up a good first innings score. So disappointed to be in this position. I guess the game was in the balance for a long time. But the key moments didn’t go our way. We knew South Africa was going to be at its best. We were not able to break those partnerships yesterday,” Latham said.
Thus, for the second consecutive series, New Zealand has failed to win at home. This might jeopardize their chances of reaching the ICC World Test Championship final.
