By Greg Stutchbury
WELLINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) – New Zealand will need to
score 389 runs in 81 overs, without the services of captain Ross
Taylor, to win the third and final test against South Africa and
level the series at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith declared their second
innings at 189 for three, a lead of 388, just over an hour into
the final day. AB de Villiers’s dismissal for 68 sparked the
declaration, while JP Duminy was left on 33 not out.
Alviro Petersen was the first wicket to fall for the
visitors, who hold a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, when he
was run out for 39 attempting a sharp single in the first over
of the day.
Smith was brilliantly caught by a diving Doug Bracewell off
Daniel Vettori for 41 before De Villiers was caught by Kane
Williamson in the deep off Bracewell.
New Zealand face an uphill battle to chase down the total
particularly after the attacking Taylor broke a bone in his left
forearm on Monday when he was struck by a Morne Morkel bouncer
and ruled out of the match.
“The specialist confirmed that the best management for the
fracture of his left ulna would be to undergo surgery,” New
Zealan Cricket Medical Director Ian Murphy said in a statement.
“This will give him the best opportunity to recover with the
actual return date determined by the speed of his recovery from
surgery.’
South Africa’s Vernon Philander took six for 81 in New
Zealand’s first innings as the hosts were bowled out for 275,
199 runs behind the visitors’ 474 for nine declared.
Continued…
