(Writes through)
* Rain washes out final day of first test
* NZ show promise against strong South Africans
March 11 (Reuters) – Heavy rain ended any chance of a
result in the first test between South Africa and New Zealand
but Ross Taylor’s team may have come away with a hint more
confidence than when they first set foot on University Oval in
Dunedin.
The hosts were soundly beaten in the one-day series and few
people expected them to fare much better in the tests, despite
having won three of their previous four matches, though two of
those were against Zimbabwe.
However, the bowling of Chris Martin and Doug Bracewell in
the first innings, coupled with the manner in which Taylor and
Brendon McCullum curbed their attacking instincts with the bat
to resurrect their second, showed the hosts could be competitive
in the three-match series.
If New Zealand’s batsmen had become the slightest bit
complacent after facing Zimbabwe’s attack, the South African
pace bowlers soon knocked that out of them.
Vernon Philander’s pace and bounce off a length, and late
movment away from off stump, consistently tested the batsmen and
the home side only establised a 35-run lead after Trent Boult’s
cameo role, which included belting Philander for three sixes and
a four in one over.
After Martin had ripped the heart out of the South African
batting with three wickets in four balls in the first inning,
Bracewell proved instrumental in the second, taking two wickets
in an over to leave tourists with an overall lead of 12 runs
with eight wickets in hand.
Continued…
