South Africa maintained their unbeaten series record over New Zealand, levelled the two-match series 1-1 and became the first team to win a match at the Hagley Oval after choosing to bat first. They set New Zealand a target of 426 and bowled them out for 227 to stage a remarkable comeback after losing the first match by an innings and 276 runs, their second-biggest defeat ever.
New Zealand lost 6 for 61 in uncharacteristically careless fashion on the final day and were dismissed nine balls after an early tea was taken, with rain in the air. On a pitch that had something in it for the quicks throughout the five days, Kagiso Rabada finished with eight wickets in the match, including his 11th career five-for and Marco Jansen with seven, while Keshav Maharaj, the only spinner playing across both XIs, took a decisive 3 for 75 in New Zealand’s second innings.
Devon Conway and Tom Blundell started the morning positively with 33 runs in the first eight overs of the day. Conway, dropped on 5 on the fourth day before resuming on 60 overnight, dabbed Rabada wide of gully for four, before Blundell hit boundaries off back-of-a-length and full Jansen deliveries. South Africa went to their default, the short ball, and Conway pulled Rabada while Blundell tucked Jansen away fine. Wiaan Mulder’s introduction dried up the boundaries. He and Rabada bowled six overs in tandem without New Zealand breaching the rope before Blundell got one away when he ran Mulder down to third man. Once pressure had been created, Maharaj was brought on, and almost had an immediate reward. He thought he had Conway out lbw when the batter missed a reverse-sweep and Elgar reviewed for lbw, but the bounce in the surface meant the ball was going over the stumps.
It was up to the least experienced member of South Africa’s attack, Lutho Sipamla, to get the breakthrough. In his 12th over of the innings and wicketless up to that point, Sipamla bowled a full delivery that beat Conway’s attempted flick and struck him in line with leg stump. He was given out on-field and reviewed, but ball-tracking showed Sipamla would have gone on to hit leg stump, and Conway’s innings came to an end – eight short of a potentially fourth Test century. Cricinfo