Stand-in captain Faf du Plessis scored a fifth Test century before his bowlers ripped through the New Zealand top order to leave South Africa firmly in charge after the second day of the second Test at Centurion yesterday.
Du Plessis was unbeaten on 112 when South Africa declared on 481 for eight before reducing New Zealand to 38 for three at the close with superb fast bowling on a wicket that has both sideways movement and variable bounce.
Skipper Kane Williamson was batting on 15 and will carry the hopes of the touring side into the third day, along with Henry Nicholls who is unbeaten on four.
South Africa’s opening bowlers, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, both returning to the side for this series after injury layoffs, used the conditions superbly and were unlucky not to find more success. Philander had Martin Guptill (eight) caught at slip by Stiaan van Zyl before Steyn induced an edge from Tom Latham that was caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
With plenty of deliveries beating the bat and the scoring rate slow, Ross Taylor (one) showed signs of panic. He took on the arm of the nippy Temba Bavuma at midwicket and was run out to compound the misery for New Zealand.
Du Plessis had earlier shown the way with a patient innings that took 234 balls and was his first Test ton in 17 visits to the crease, a timely return to form as he stands in for regular captain AB de Villiers.
JP Duminy, restored to the team in the absence of De Villiers, missed out on his century, though, falling for 88 caught behind off a wild hook.
“There is a lot happening in the wicket and we just needed one guy to anchor the innings and keep them out there as long as possible,” Du Plessis said. “The plan right from the beginning was to try to get to 400, which is a good score on this wicket, and then have a little dip at them at the end of the day.”
The stand-in skipper said he and Duminy had found batting in the last hour on the first day to be particularly difficult.
His declaration was therefore geared to having New Zealand bat when it was most likely to be tough for them in South African winter conditions, with the close coming near sunset.
“The grass stands up a little more towards the end of the day and because of the light you can see the little indentations on the pitch which you don’t see when the sun is shining brightly in the middle of the day. It plays on your mind a bit,” Du Plessis added.
In an era of rapid scoring in Test cricket, much of South Africa’s innings was a return to a more attritional age, with run rate hovering at around three an over. Du Plessis was particularly cautious as he tiptoed to a fifth Test century off 225 balls.
Pretoria-born Neil Wagner, who attended primary and high school with Du Plessis in Pretoria, was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers with figures of 5-89 in 39 overs.
“Neil’s been outstanding for a long period of time,” said fellow fast bowler Tim Southee. “He’s just reaping the rewards for the efforts and the tough overs he’s bowled throughout his career. He keeps running in and will make something happen from nothing.”
Southee collected a solitary wicket and conceded 114 runs. “It was frustrating,” he admitted. “When the ball did something it did too much, but credit to the way they batted, particularly Faf.”

Scoreboard
South Africa (1st innings; overnight 283-3)
S Cook c Williamson b Bracewell     56
Q de Kock c Boult b Wagner     82
H Amla c Watling b Wagner     58
J Duminy c Watling b Southee     88
F du Plessis (not out)     112
T Bavuma c Bracewell b Wagner     8
S van Zyl c Taylor b Wagner     35
V Philander b Wagner     8
K Rabada c Nicholls b Santner     7
D Steyn (not out)     13
Extras (b-10, lb-4)     14
Total (8 wickets, 154 overs)     481
Fall of wickets: 1-133, 2-151, 3-246, 4-317, 5-342, 6-426, 7-442, 8-463
Bowling: T Southee 35-5-114-1; T Boult 35.4-7-107-0; D Bracewell 30.2-9-98-1; M Santner 14-1-62-1; N Wagner 39-8-86-5

New Zealand (1st innings)
M Guptill c van Zyl b Philander     8
T. Latham c de Kock b Steyn     4
K Williamson (batting)     15
R Taylor (run out)     1
H Nicholls (batting)     4
Extras (lb-1, w-5)     6
Total (3 wickets, 16 overs)     38
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-26
Bowling: D Steyn 8-2-18-1; V Philander 4-1-10-1; K Rabada 4-0-9-0 (w-1)