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First Test between New Zealand [341] and South Africa [308 & 224/6] ends in a draw

Lol NZ commentators so bitter about Neeshams dismissal. Another biased set of commentators.
 
16 centuries at the age of 26 for Kane Williamson. Should get to 30 plus centuries easily.
 
This pitch isn't going to get easier to bat on. NZ slowly eating away at this lead. We could be in for a thriller of a game.
 
Williamson has certainly improved his spin game since the tour of India
 
NZ needs to garner a 75-100 run lead here. They won't have Ross Taylor for the 2nd innings, and the South African attack will be quality in a 4th innings chase situation.
 
SA will win this on the final day. NZ are 1 man short, can't see them winning this
 
Hasan123 said:
Haven't you been watching the game? Spinners have been influential in the game. The pitch is offering some assistance for spinners, which is a suprise in New Zealand.
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Not a surprise at all. Pitches that grip for seam will grip for spin. Regarding spinners being influential, it's only Maharaj who's a special bowler.
 
SA running away with the game as expected.

We won't be able to chase more than 240.
 
I hope this test doesn't end up with draw..

Want some result..
 
Would like to see NZ chase 275-280 in 4th inning but for that SA have to score 325 which looks a bit far from here.

Hopefully, we are set for an exciting 5th day of the Match.
 
Half-centuries from Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis allowed the Standard Bank Proteas to grind themselves into a position of nominal control on the fourth day of the first Test against New Zealand at the University Oval.

The pair were forced to battle in frigid conditions on a wearing wicket that made run-scoring extremely difficult, and their 80-run stand for the fourth wicket helped South Africa close the day on 224 for six, giving them a lead of 191 runs.

The pedestrian scoring rate on the day, which yielded 186 runs from 84 overs, was largely due to the slow pace of the wicket as well as the unpredictable bounce.

Elgar was at the crease for 87 overs for his 89, which took his match aggregate to 229 runs. This made him the first Proteas opener to score more than 200 runs in a Test since Graeme Smith struck a double-hundred against Pakistan in Dubai in November 2013.

Meanwhile, Du Plessis was equally patient as he batted through to stumps on 56 from 155 deliveries, ensuring that the Proteas still have control over how the last day may play out.

Any target over 200 is likely to prove difficult to chase, particularly if New Zealand have to score at four or more per over to do so. With rain forecast at various points on day five, judging the state of the game and deciding on tactics could be challenging for both sides.

Play on day four was delayed by around 40 minutes by early morning rain and bad light, and once play got underway, the difficulty of the day ahead was highlighted by the first two balls from Trent Boult.

The first one jumped up off a length to rap Hashim Amla on the glove, while the second delivery shot through at ankle height.

Amla (24) fell in the fourth over of the day when he failed to account for the slowness of the pitch and chipped a catch to midwicket off the bowling of Neil Wagner.

New Zealand had opportunities to put South Africa under serious pressure thereafter, but made some poor calls with the Decision Review System and also dropped several catches.

JP Duminy was dropped on 6 and should have been out lbw to Jeetan Patel on 20, while Elgar was dropped on 35 and 48.

As a result the pair were able to add 74 for the third wicket before Duminy’s luck ran out and he was trapped lbw by Wagner for 39.

Elgar and Du Plessis dug in for their partnership, scoring at just two runs per over, and were only separated when a decision was made to increase the scoring rate.

New Zealand had been forced to take the new ball with their spinners due to the bad light, and Elgar, in sight of a second century in the match, unselfishly looked for quick runs when he took on Jeetan Patel and was caught at wide long-off.

Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock fell to Mitchell Santner and Patel respectively, making it the fourth time in four innings that Patel has dismissed the wicketkeeper-batsman, before Philander accompanied Du Plessis to the close of play.

That was brought about prematurely due to bad light, and so play will resume at 10:40am local time (11:40pm tonight SA time), weather permitting.
 
It should be an interesting 5th day of play for sure.

A lead of 191 with 4 wickets left...Anything below 250 with more than 2 sessions to play is chaseable.
 
Ab Fan said:
It should be an interesting 5th day of play for sure.

A lead of 191 with 4 wickets left...Anything below 250 with more than 2 sessions to play is chaseable.
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i don't think you've been paying attention to this pitch nor match. 220 is near umpossible on this surface. Stroke making is tough on this sliggish deck.
SA have their noses in front imho
 
soso_killer said:
i don't think you've been paying attention to this pitch nor match. 220 is near umpossible on this surface. Stroke making is tough on this sliggish deck.
SA have their noses in front imho
Click to expand...

Might be the case not too sure. JUST following the scoreboard and didn't watched the match at all except a bit of Williamson's batting in 1st inning. Also the fact that its too late here when the match begins doesn't help.

Anyways, what do you think will be a safe total to defend ensuring the bowlers get enough possible time to bowl NZ out?
 
No L Taylor is going to make any serious chase tough for NZ- he's one of their best if it came down to a t20 style dash home and one less batsman in the lineup makes every collapse look worse.

Prediction: draw after SA are too conservative in ensuring an unloseable position rather than chase a win...
 
The Standard Bank Proteas will need to be strategic in their approach as they map out the way to a possible victory on the final day of the first Test match against New Zealand in Dunedin on Sunday. Heavy rain has been forecast for most of the day on Sunday, but all three results remain possible if the weather stays clear at the University Oval.

The match has been an intriguing battle between the teams, a gripping contest which has see-sawed from one side to the other. Proteas batting coach, Neil McKenzie, says the team is hoping to set up a situation which allows them to dictate their terms in the match.

“It’s about dictating terms and the batting time,” McKenzie said on Saturday. “I think another 60 or 70 runs is not going to come in 10 overs, that is the nature of the wicket. We have to graft upfront tomorrow to try and take that lead beyond 270 so you can dictate when to declare and when to have a look at New Zealand’s batsmen.

“In their dressing room they will be looking at getting a couple of early wickets tomorrow and to run through us to try and chase 230. Those 30 – 40 runs on this type of wicket make a massive difference.”

Dean Elgar fell 11 runs short of becoming the 13th batsman to score a pair and a hundred in each innings of a Test match. He has faced 548 balls this Test match for his 140 and 89 – the most balls faced by a visiting batsman in a Test in New Zealand – and has held the first and seconding innings’ together for the Proteas in challenging conditions.

The batsmen had to adopt an attritional game plan against a persistent and disciplined attack like they did in the first innings, a situation that suited Elgar’s personality and batting style to the tee.

“Everyone has had to dig deep,” McKenzie said of the batting performance. “It’s not a fluent pitch, a lot of the guys who have come in, you see getting off the mark has been quite a struggle. It took Kane Williamson 10 balls to get off so it has been tough, but I think that is why Dean enjoys it. He is a gutsy, gritty type of cricketer, it suits him down to the wire, you have to work hard for the runs. He knows Test cricket is not about fluent runs, it’s about the ugly hard runs.

“He is 30-odd, he knows his game and what he has to do,” McKenzie added. “He has been a lot smarter, he is batting well. In the Sri Lankan series, he put a few scores together, there has been a big emphasis in the South African side to double up. A lot of guys have scored hundreds and then gone quiet. We have put a lot of emphasis on whomever has got the form to go with the form.”

Faf du Plessis (56) - another fighting character- and Vernon Philander (1) will resume the contest on day five with the score on 224/6 with a lead of 191. Play is scheduled to start at 10h40 local time. A maximum of 95 overs will be played on the final day.
 
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