Kemp inspires South Africa to thrilling win

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Justin Kemp: turned the match with his 73 © Getty Images

A brilliant, aggressive knock of 73 from Justin Kemp turned a nightmare start for South Africa into a sweet two-wicket victory in the first one-day international at Bloemfontein on Sunday. New Zealand had been on top for much of South Africa’s reply, as wickets toppled regularly – but Kemp was his usual demonstrative self, hitting five fours and three sixes in a superbly timed 64-ball innings.South Africa’s openers got off to a rollicking start, aided by Bond whose first ball of the innings was a wide. Three fours were struck in the first over, which cost 17, and two further boundaries by Boeta Dippenaar in the second. The hosts had reached 29 without loss, in under three overs, before Bond got one to nip back sharply to trap Dippenaar in the crease for 10.New Zealand by now had restricted the run flow considerably, by bowling full and straight – much as Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini had done in New Zealand’s innings. In the sixth over, Jacques Kallis – attempting a flourishing cover-drive – missed the ball completely, and was bowled through the gate by Kyle Mills’ first delivery: a rarity for a batsman of such quality.Kemp came to the crease with South Africa struggling on 85 for 4. It was during the 36th over in which he found his destructive rhythm, smashing Jeetan Patel, New Zealand’s Supersub, for a mammoth six over long on. He followed this up in the next over by striking Nathan Astle for two fours and two sixes – but even this late, violent flurry left South Africa needing 68 from the final 10 overs.Shane Bond still had two overs left in his allocation, but Fleming chose Patel to bowl the 46th over – and he conceded just seven runs by bowling straight, full and fast, restricting Kemp and Pollock who could only pick up singles. Bond did return to the attack, with South Africa needing 24 from the final three overs: Pollock swung, ungainly, and the wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum could only watch the ball sail past him. Pollock was to be dismissed a few balls later, quickly followed by Justin Kemp – but the damage had been done, mainly by Kemp. Despite a valiant diving effort from Stephen Fleming to catch Nicky Boje’s heave-ho, South Africa snuck home by two wickets with three balls to spare.New Zealand’s innings had revolved around Craig McMillan’s solid 66, and Fleming’s elegant 45. Fleming had lost both Astle and Lou Vincent cheaply, but looked in terrific touch before he too fell to a stunning catch at point by Gibbs. Flinging himself to his left, Gibbs pulled off what most other fielders would regard as a one-off; for him, though, it was but a formality.At 70 for 3 McMillan started his rescue act, hitting eight fours and a six in his half-century. He received excellent support from Jacob Oram, with whom he put on 75 for the fifth wicket, before Oram suicidally ran himself out. A lofted six by McMillan off Kallis increased the momentum of his innings significantly, and he was quick to dispatch anything short: his fifty, from 57 balls, came via a deft cut for four to third man.Kallis, with an excellent slower ball, foxed McMillan (66) whose attempt to nudge the ball to the leg-side provided Ashwell Prince with the simplest of chances at midwicket, and Kallis’s 200th ODI wicket. Daniel Vettori, who could only last three balls, made way for Adams who lofted a big six over long-on. In the next over, McCullum drove Nel over extra cover for his second six – an extraordinary, almost effortless shot which he attempted to repeat later in the over, to his peril. Nel bowled admirably, fully deserving the flattering figures of 3 for 42.A flurry of runs from the tail enabled New Zealand to creep up to a very respectable score of 249 for 8, which represented a significant recovery from the shaky position they earlier found themselves in. But, despite the quick runs from their lower-order, it wasn’t enough to stop the damaging blade of Kemp, whose innings deservedly earned him the Man-of-the-Match award. The two sides meet again on Friday at Cape Town – and both will be looking to improve upon scratchy performances today.<!–Full report to follow.25 overs
New Zealand’s bowlers responded to the impetus provided by their batsmen to restrict South Africa to 100 for 4 after the first 25 overs of South Africa’s reply, in the first one-day international at Bloemfontein.South Africa’s openers got off to a rollicking start, aided by Bond whose first ball of the innings was a wide. Three fours were struck in the first over, which cost 15, and two further boundaries by Boeta Dippenaar in the second. The hosts had reached 29 without loss, in under three overs, before Bond got one to nip back sharply to trap Dippenaar in the crease for 10.New Zealand by now had restricted the run-flow considerably, by bowling full and straight – much as Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini had done in New Zealand’s innings. In the sixth over, Jacques Kallis – attempting a flourishing cover-drive – missed the ball completely, and was bowled through the gate by Kyle Mills’ first delivery: a rarity for a batsman of such quality.South Africa’s nightmare start to their innings was to continue as Graeme Smith, arguably the form batsman of both sides, dragged a delivery from Andre Adams onto his stumps. Bowling around the wicket, Adams found some swing and Smith, attempting to drive it on the off-side, clipped it onto his stumps. At 42 for 3, New Zealand were well on top and, despite a steady partnership of 44 between Herschelle Gibbs and Ashwell Prince, the visitors applied the brakes, increasing the required-run-rate to beyond five per over. Mills, in particular, bowled superbly and conceded just 21 from his eight overs.The introduction of Nathan Astle brought the wicket of Prince who, like his captain, chopped a ball onto his stumps. Astle tossed the ball up wide of Prince’s off-stump, whose eyes lit up at the prospect of a certain boundary – but, again like Smith, a cross-batted swat resulted in the ball clipping the stumps, and Astle threw his arms up in delight, and shock.Gibbs, not out on 15 from 55 balls, remains the key for both sides’ chances of victory in what is certain to be a tight finish.50 overs New Zealand 249 for 8 (McMillan 66, Fleming 45, Nel 3-42) v South Africa
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Craig McMillan: anchored the innings © Getty Images

Craig McMillan anchored New Zealand’s innings with a composed 66, before Brendon McCullum and Andre Adams provided some late impetus to lift their total to a respectable 249 for 8, in the first one-day international against South Africa at Bloemfontein. New Zealand’s innings had been given a good start by their captain, Stephen Fleming, who made 48 from 45 balls before falling to a stunning catch at point from Herschelle Gibbs.McMillan was joined by Jacob Oram, with whom he put on 75 for the fifth wicket, before Oram suicidally ran himself out. A lofted six by McMillan off Jacques Kallis increased the momentum of his innings significantly, and he was quick to dispatch anything short: his fifty, from 57 balls, came via a deft cut for four to third man.Kallis, with an excellent slower ball, foxed McMillan (66) whose attempt to nudge the ball to the leg-side provided Ashwell Prince with the simplest of chances at midwicket, and Kallis’s 200th ODI wicket. Daniel Vettori, who could only last three balls, made way for Adams who lofted a big six over long-on. In the next over, McCullum drove Nel over extra cover for his second six – an extraordinary, almost effortless shot which he attempted to repeat later in the over, to his peril.A flurry of runs from the lower-order enabled New Zealand to creep up to a very respectable score of 249 for 8, which represented a significant recovery from the shaky position they earlier found themselves in.South Africa had dominated the first half of New Zealand’s innings, snaffling four early wickets, and restricting the run-rate considerably. Makhaya Ntini and, in particular, Shaun Pollock were quick to find the right length, consistently troubling both Nathan Astle and Fleming, neither of whom were able to break free.Astle flashed and edged precariously and, in the third over, Pollock tempted him into cutting a ball, which gave Mark Boucher his first catch of the day. A delightful and disdainful flick from Astle’s replacement, Lou Vincent, broke the shackles for New Zealand, who had scored just 11 in the first five overs. But Ntini cleverly got one to straighten on Vincent, who played a poor back-foot defensive shot which gave Boucher his second simple catch of the innings.Fleming then took the initiative, striking three glorious boundaries in the eighth over – Pollock’s fifth on the trot. He was looking in particularly elegant touch, before Gibbs pulled off a catch, at point, which few fielders in the world could have made look much simpler. Nel, in his second over and bowling around the wicket, bowled full and slightly wide, causing Fleming to slash one to point: Gibbs flew to his left, and clung on, even holding his pose for the waiting photographers, and sparse crowd.With the loss of Fleming, which ended his 52-run partnership with Hamish Marshall, South Africa threatened to strangle New Zealand’s innings, but McMillan, McCullum and Adams proved just how vital lower-order runs can be. –>

Dolphins maintain strong position

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The Dolphins maintained a strong position on the second day of their clash with Cape Cobras at Paarl. They pushed their score on to 432, Hashim Amla leading the way with 137, as they took advantage of a flat pitch. Lance Klusener pitched in with an unusually measured innings of 35 to reverse what looked like a collapse as the Dolphins lost four wickets for 14 runs in the morning. The Cobras also found batting easy, reaching stumps on 109 for 1, Gerhard Strydom unbeaten on 58.The Lions will scent victory after they took control on the second day against Eagles at Potchefstroom. Resuming 57 runs behind the Eagles with six wickets in hand, the Lions took a 209-run lead ahead thanks to Matthew Harris’ first hundred at this level. He finished unbeaten on 135 and received strong support from the tail, the last four wickets putting on 146. The Eagles then lost three wickets for 47 and will need a big day tomorrow to stave off defeat.Only five wickets fell at East London on the second day, but the Warriors remained in a strong position against the Titans. Four half centuries from the Warriors batting line-up pushed their total to 442 for 9 declared, but they made only one breakthrough when it was their turn to bowl. Titans closed on 121 for 1.

Udal savours the moment

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Udal: ‘I lost control of my senses for a few seconds. It was a special moment’ © Getty Images

Shaun Udal captured his first Test wicket to fulfil an ambition he has been harbouring for 19 long years, as England fought back manfully on the first day at Multan to reduce Pakistan to a wobbly 244 for 6 at stumps.Since poking his head into the international arena more than a decade ago, Udal has had ample opportunity to romanticise about that big moment, and it finally came in the 55th over of the innings, as Salman Butt cannoned an edge off the top of Marcus Trescothick’s head at slip, and into the gloves of Geraint Jones as he dived back to gather the rebound.”I’d have liked it to have come in a more conventional way,” Udal joked, “but the whole day has gone fantastically well. I’ve waited for this for a long time, so to play a part and to have some say in what happened as well is fantastic. I’m still pinching myself.”I was a bit confused as to where the ball had gone,” he admitted. “Obviously it hit Marcus but when it looped in the air and he was still looking for it, I thought the moment had gone. But then Jonesy dived, and I lost control of my senses for a few seconds. It was a special moment – Freddie, Harmy and the boys came and gave me a big hug – and when you’ve waited 19 years to play, it’s even better.”Udal’s long experience as a county pro meant that he was better equipped than most for coping with the new-boy nerves, although he did admit to feeling a “bit panicky” when his first ball whistled over the covers for four. But the team spirit that carried England through the Ashes was on full show to help him out. “It’s been relatively easy because the guys have made me so welcome,” he said. “They are very special and it’s a pleasure to be involved with this team.”There was no doubt that he was straight in at the deep end of Test cricket, however. “The first two or three hours were tough,” he said. “I may be a new boy here, but watching from the sidelines, I’ve seen the tough times, we get through them. The discipline and strength of character of the side showed what you can do when you put your mind to it. We stuck to our guns, stuck to our plans, made run-scoring a little more difficult and it went our way.”And Udal wasn’t afraid to change his natural spinner’s rhythm to suit the conditions. “I probably bowled a bit quicker because of the docility of the pitch and the quality of the players. You need to make them rush their shots a little more. There’ll be more turn and bounce for the wristspinner, for a fingerspinner you’ve got to work hard and eliminate the bad balls.”As to the match situation, Udal felt England weren’t far from the ascendancy. “You never know in cricket, but another 60-70 runs and a total around the 300 mark, and we’ve had a good first innings. But it’s only a quarter of the job done. Today’s been a very special moment, but I’m not going to get too carried away.”

India spin to emphatic series win

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How they were out

Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are elated after India’s comprehensive win© AFP

Virender Sehwag decided to ask his spinners to open the bowling on the fifth morning of the Ahmedabad Test, and it paid off. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were the dominant figures of this Test match, scheming and plotting, spinning and bouncing, wicket-taking furiously. And theydidn’t take long to finish it off, allowing Sri Lanka to add only 14 runs to their overnight score before they were all out for 249, losing this Test by 259 runs.Kumble struck in the second over of the day when Farveez Maharoof stretched out on the front foot and played for turn that wasn’t there, as the ball hurried on through and rapped him on the pads (235 for 7). Jehan Mubarak fell in the next over, edging a ball from Harbhajan thatpitched outside leg stump and spun across him (235 for 8).Malinga Bandara showed some spirit, executing what can best be described as a two-hand forehand down the ground for four off a short ball from Harbhajan, but it was the last flicker of a dying flame. Muttiah Muralitharan missed a slog sweep and was bowled by Harbhajanfor 3 (245 for 9). And shortly afterwards, Bandara edged a ball from Kumble to gully, where Sehwag took an excellent diving catch. Kumble, in the second innings of his 100th Test, had 5 for 89.The summary of the match: Sri Lanka played hard, intense cricket, but were outplayed by a team that beat them on talent and matched them in intensity. Despite India’s margin of victory, it had been a well-contested Test, and a fine advertisement for the game.How they were outSri LankaFarveez Maharoof lbw Kumble 2 (235 for 7)
Jehan Mubarak c Laxman b Harbhajan 18 (235 for 8)
Muttiah Muralitharan b Harbhajan 3 (245 for 9)
Malinga Bandara c Sehwag by Kumble 11 (249)

Ganguly stars with ball but TN fight back

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ScorecardSourav Ganguly tore into the top order while Ranadeb Bose took care of the tail as Bengal, opting to bowl first on a green top, bowled out Tamil Nadu for 218 before struggling against the medium pace of Rajamani Jesuraj to reach 32 for 3 by the end of the opening day’s play at the Eden Gardens. “I’ve never seen such a wicket while playing in India”, Dinesh Kartik, TN’s wicketkeeper, had said on the eve of the game and nearly all the batsmen struggled on it. Only Hemang Badani who stepped down from the captaincy, giving way to Subramaniam Badrinath, to concentrate on his batting, offered the lone resistance with a fighting 67 to lift TN to a competitive total. Ganguly, who was ordered by BCCI to play in this tie, trapped all his three victims in front before being suspended from bowling in the rest of the innings for straying on to the danger area too often. Bengal, with nine points from five games, will be hoping to grab as many points as they can and secure a semi-final spot while Tamil Nadu, will try to get at least two points to avoid being relegated to Plate. For Tamil Nadu Yo Mahesh, the India under-19 player, made his debut.
ScorecardA 97-run partnership between Barrington Rowland and Balachandra Akhil lifted Karnataka from dire straits at 134 for 5 to 231 for 6 by the end of opening day’s play against Delhi at Bangalore. Virender Sehwag, ordered by BCCI to play in this game, struck twice to push the hosts on the back foot before Rowland came to the rescue with a patient 81. However, he fell late in the day to bring back Delhi into the frame; Sehwag will be hoping to bowl out the tail quickly on the second day while Karnataka’s hopes of a big first-innings score rested on Akhil. It’s a crucial tie for Delhi as they have only 6 points in five games and need at least 2 points from this tie to avoid the relegation.
ScorecardLed by Ramesh Powar’s four-wicket haul and assisted by twin blows from Aavishkar Salvi and Swapnil Hazare, Mumbai reduced Gujarat to 190 for 9 by close of the opening day at Ahmedabad. Parthiv Patel, who was picked for the India tour of Pakistan, shored up the Gujarat innings with a valiant 47 before Hemal Watekar’s unbeaten 46 lifted Gujarat to a fighting total. Salvi and Hazare picked up the four of the top six in the order before Powar, who had removed Parthiv, came back to rip the tail apart.
ScorecardShalabh Srivastava and Ashish Zaidi rocked the top order while Piyush Chawla blew the tail away as Uttar Pradesh shot out Hyderabad for 142 before riding on Shukla’s unbeaten half-century to reach a position of relative strength at 101 for 1 by stumps on the opening day at Lucknow. A stunning scoreline considering Hyderabad, with 9 points from four games, are placed second in the Group B table while UP are wallowing near the bottom of the table. Shashank Nag, the left-hand opener, took Hyderabad to 70 before becoming the fourth wicket to fall, triggering a collapse.
ScorecardOff the 32 overs that were possible due to a delayed start owing to rain Maharashtra reached 55 for the loss of Abhijit Kale, the opener, in the crucial tie against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Railways, with only 4 points in five games, lie at the bottom of the table along with Maharashtra and face the threat of relegation. Maharashtra have an overseas coach in Darren Holder, the Australian, but the results have been pretty disappointing so far.
Scorecard</aOnly 26.2 overs were possible on a rain-affected day as Pinal Shah steered Baroda to 82 for 1 against Services by close at Palam A Stadium in New Delhi. Baroda are perched on top of the Group B table with 13 points from four games while Services are at the bottom of the pool, yet to earn a point.
ScorecardPunjab, competing for the second semi-final spot, plodded their way to 190 for 4 by the end of the opening day against Andhra at Visakhapatnam. Pankaj Dharmani and Dinesh Mongia, the captain, put up a 91-run stand for the third wicket to lift Punjab from a shaky 99 for 3 to a position of relative strength. “We need to go all out and we are confident of doing it. Our team is well balanced. However, we don’t underestimate Andhra, which is doing well”, Inthikab Alam, the Punjab coach and former Pakistan captain, had said on the eve of the match. If their tedious progress today is any indication, they have a battle on their hands.

McGlashan leads Central Districts to shock title

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ScorecardSara McGlashan hit an unbeaten half-century as Central Districts beat Canterbury by five wickets at Christchurch to claim their first State League title. Having dismissed Canterbury for just 150, CD coasted home with 17 balls to spare. It was just the second time that the unfancied CD side had beaten Canterbury in their history.After rain delayed the start, Canterbury opted to bat but struggled to get a partnership going and lost wickets at regular intervals to finish on 150 for 9 after 50 overs. Both Haidee Tiffen and Beth McNeill top-scored with 25. Zara McWilliams picked up 3 for 37 for Central Districts.In the second innings, Amy Satterthwaite picked up three quick top-order wickets to reduce Central Districts to 65 for 3 but McGlashan held the innings together with a well-made 55 and saw them through to the title.”Obviously, playing for New Zealand ranks very high but I think this is probably the best moment of my career,” said McGlashan. “I don’t think there’s a better feeling than this. It’s always been a team effort with us and everyone’s done really well throughout the season. We put them under pressure and they crumbled.”

Gauteng finish off Free State

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Gauteng made short work of Free State at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, eventually winning by eight wickets. Having been forced to follow on, Free State made amends for their first-innings collapse, scoring 329 with most of the top-order getting runs. Lefa Mosena scored 78, Riel de Kock got 65 and Benjamin Hector put together 57. Heinrich le Roux improved on hiscareer-best from the first innings to take 4 for 66 and end the inningswith seven wickets. For Free State however it was not enough as Gautengknocked off the 53 required in 48 balls.Easterns had to be content with bonus points at Willowmoore Park, Benoni, as North West held out for the draw. Having lost all of day one to rain, as well as a few overs on day two, Easterns could not bowl the visitors out for a second time after scoring 308 for 7 in their first innings. A magnificent 133 from Andre Seymore and a career-best 91 from David Wiese meant that Easterns led the bonus-point count after the first innings. Richard Stroh was the pick of the North West bowlers, taking 3 for 47. Facing a deficit of 70, North West crawled along to finish on 125 for 4 when the match was called off as a draw.Against all expectations the Chatsworth ground staff managed, after twodays of continuous rain, to get the pitch and outfield in Durban to aplayable condition. With the match, according to the regulations, beingdecided over one innings, Eastern Province put KwaZulu-Natal in to bat, with Imraan Khan (61) getting off to a flier. Darryl Willemse picked up a career-best of 4 for 56 as Natal totalled 200 all out. Eastern Province started off very slowly in chasing down the target but a 58 off 61 balls from Grant Howell put them in sight of a win. Anley Chinnappa, on debut, put an end to the chase taking 3 for 19 with his legbreaks, leaving the last two batsmen the task of keeping the last 22 balls out. In the end they succeeded with Province ending on 186 for 9 and a draw.

van Troost leads Dutch against Kenya

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Netherlands have named a 14-man squad to represent them against Kenya in the Intercontinental Cup at the end of March.It had been hoped that the two countries would be able to play an ODI before the main match, but it now seems that this will depend on Kenya’s commitments in Bangladesh, and an official in Cricket Kenya said the game was unlikely to go ahead at the moment.Netherlands squad Luuk van Troost (capt), Daan van Bunge, Ryan ten Doeschete, Victor Grandia, Tom de Grooth, Muhammad Kashif, Alexei Kervezee, Tim de Leede, Darron Reekers, Edgar Schiferli, Pieter Seelaar, Jeroen Smits, Billy Stelling, Bas Zuiderant,

Hohns should leave – Mark Waugh

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‘I think the board need to have a very hard look at Hohns, that’s where the issue is’ © Getty Images

Mark Waugh has called for Trevor Hohns, Australia’s chairman of selectors, to be sacked following some questionable selections, notably the decision to drop Brad Hodge in favour of Damien Martyn.”I think the board need to have a very hard look at Hohns, that’s where the issue is,” Waugh said in the after speaking on radio. “He’s been there for a decade, which is a very long time to be in charge of picking our cricket teams.”There have been some funny selections lately. It stems back to New Zealand last year when Brett Lee didn’t play a Test. The [situation with] Hodge was also very unfair.”Hodge scored a magnificent double-hundred against South Africa – he toured India, New Zealand and England before getting his first Test cap – but was dropped in favour of Martyn for Australia’s tour to South Africa. Hohns described the decision as a “judgment call”.”It wouldn’t be hard to pick a good team, would it?” Waugh said. “But I think they have got a bit lost. When someone has been there for a long time sometimes you need … new thoughts.”

Amla leads fight as New Zealand look skywards

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South Africa 155 for 2 (Amla 50*, Kallis 25*) trail New Zealand 593 for 8 dec (Fleming 262, Franklin 122*, Ntini 4-162) by 438 runs
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How they were out

Jeetan Patel shows his joy after removing Boeta Dippenaar © AFP

On a day of firsts at Cape Town, New Zealand maintained their supremacy but were left looking towards the heavens as the weather threatened to ruin their chances of squaring the series. After James Franklin had reached his maiden Test century, Jeetan Patel opened his Test-wicket tally with two scalps. However, Hashim Amla marked his return to the Test arena with a hardworking first fifty as he guided South Africa’s pursuit of the follow-on target of 394.Faced with a huge total – and a follow-on target of 394 – Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar had made steady progress against the new ball after New Zealand extended their innings for 13 overs. Patel and Daniel Vettori were in action by the 13th over of South Africa’s reply, and both found appreciable assistance, with Vettori ripping deliveries past the edges of all the right-handers.Patel, though, was something of a surprise package. He has produced some promising performances in one-day internationals but a career average of over 41 in first-class cricket would not send shudders through a batting line-up. However, he made an immediate mark when Stephen Fleming threw him the ball flighting a full delivery to Smith, who tried to work it to the onside, but could only spoon it back to the bowler. Smith stood his ground, believing it to be a bump ball, but the TV evidence was clear and he was on his way.Patel wasn’t afraid to flight the ball and bowled an attacking line outside off stump, drifting the ball away from the bat. His second wicket, when Dippenaar dragged on an attempted cut, was reward for a impressive spell of patience and pressure building. This certainly isn’t a surface where New Zealand are going to rush through the South African line-up and Fleming realised this. He wasn’t afraid to rotate his attack and try some innovative field settings, such as removing the slips for Scott Styris and blocking up the run-scoring areas.

James Franklin opened his shoulders after reaching a maiden Test century © AFP

Amla stood firm on his return to the Test team and his extensive work with Gary Kirsten is paying dividends. On his last outing he was worked out by the England pace attack during the 2004-05 series and was returned to domestic cricket to hone his technique. A season’s average of over 50 has been rewarded, and although his flat-footed wafts at Franklin show there is still work to do, he has clearly made progress. In the brief period of play after tea, before the light closed in, he took two fours off Patel to reach his half-century, a battling effort off 132 balls.South Africa have long since conceded this Test is now purely an exercise in survival and Amla’s stand with Jacques Kallis showed this. Both were happy to concentrate primarily on defence although Kallis did produce some uncharacteristic wafts against the spinners.With the dodgy weather knocking around, Fleming may yet regret batting so long in the morning. Franklin struggled to pierce the field as he tried to tick off the seven more runs needed to reach three figures. However, he finally connected with a searing straight drive to bring up the milestone, the third of his first-class career.Once the weight of the approaching hundred had been removed, Franklin opened his shoulders and launched a mini-blitz on the weary South African attack. He crunched a couple of scorching drives through the offside and then picked Makhaya Ntini up over midwicket for a handsome six.Patel chipped in with some meaty thumps through the infield, but his main role was to perform with the ball. He did that with distinction and he is going to have plenty of work over the next two days – weather permitting. This match has turned into a race against time for New Zealand, while South Africa just need to bat. Amla has begun the process and Kallis, entrenched at the crease, is the perfect man to carry it forward.

How they were outSouth AfricaGraeme Smith c and b Patel 25 (36 for 1)
Boeta Dippenaar b Patel 47 (108 for 2)