A century from Kane Williamson and a half century from Will Young powered New Zealand to a comfortable seven wicket win over the Proteas in the second test at Seddon Park in Hamilton during the final session on day four on Friday.
The win saw the hosts seal two bits of history for themselves, a first ever test series win over the Proteas, after they crushed them by 281-runs in the first test in Mount Maunganui last week, and the highest ever fourth innings chase at Seddon Park, with the 267 eclipsing the previous best chase of 210.
Scored his 30th, 31st and 32nd Test ton in this series. Unreal Kane 👏 #NZvSA pic.twitter.com/SQOw8mkBZe
— naeemah (@NaeemahBenjamin) February 16, 2024
Williamson played a huge role in the win of both the game and series, as he crunched his third century of series, finishing unbeaten on 133 off 260 balls, having struck 12 fours and two sixes.
Young provided perfect support, ending unbeaten on 60 off 134 balls (8x4), while their unbeaten 152-run fourth wicket partnership proved to be the match winning effort in the end.
“Coming into today on a wearing surface we knew that we had to string some partnerships together. But credit to South Africa, they certainly for the first couple of days outplayed us I thought and put us under pressure,” said Player of the Series Williamson.
No fuss just hundreds 🙌 #NZvSA pic.twitter.com/L30okNzWA2
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 16, 2024
“We had to fight hard to get out of that position and change the momentum and credit to the partnerships and seeing off that new ball to give ourselves that chance.”
For the Proteas spinner Dane Piedt grafted incredibly hard, picking up 3/93 in 32 overs and finished with match figures of 8/182, but with no help from his fellow bowlers, particularly in the second innings, it was all too easy for New Zealand to claim the win.
In the end it was a valiant effort from an understrength Proteas team, missing all of their regulars due to the SA20, and it was an impressive bounce back performance in the second test after their heavy loss in the first test.
“We are definitely more disappointed after this test match, just because we were in the game at the end of day three,” said Proteas captain Neil Brand.
“I think the final session yesterday cost us a bit, scoring 33 runs for six wickets, so we are bitterly disappointed. We were confident coming in this morning and to be fair to our bowlers they left nothing out there. We just kept on trying and I couldn’t ask anything more of them.
Most unbeaten hundreds in successful test chases:
— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) February 16, 2024
4 - KANE WILLIAMSON🇳🇿
3 - Ricky Ponting🇦🇺
3 - Graeme Smith🇿🇦
2 - Joe Root🏴#NZvSA pic.twitter.com/SgjwQeRkVF
“It was an awesome experience for us. It was amazing playing test cricket against New Zealand. It was tough, especially the first test was very difficult and I was very proud of how we bounced back in the series.”
Williamson and Young started the final session of the day with their side on 173/3 and Williamson eased his way carefully to his century with ones and twos, with a single off Shaun von Berg bringing up the landmark.
Back-to-back boundaries from Young off Von Berg in the 78th over then brought up their 200, while the Proteas took the new ball two overs later but were still unable to break the partnership.
Young brought up his half century in style by hammering Piedt over long on for four in the 88th over, while another Young boundary off Piedt in the 90th brought up the New Zealand 250.
Williamson fittingly ended the game in style for the hosts, slamming Tshepo Moreki through the covers for four to end proceedings.
In the post lunch session Williamson and Rachin Ravindra (20) resumed the chase on 107/2, with them extending their third wicket partnership to 64-runs, before Dane Piedt had Ravindra driving straight to Neil Brand at short cover, leaving them on 117/3.
Young joined Williamson at the crease and played the perfect support role, allowing Williamson to take charge of the chase as they eased their side through the rest of the session.
Shortly before tea the Proteas did think they had got the breakthrough when Young was given out caught behind to a viciously turning delivery from Vn Berg, but the batter reviewed immediately with the DRS showing no edge, leading to the decision being overturned.
In the morning session Tom Latham (30) and Williamson resumed with the Black Caps on 40/1 at the start of the day, and after moving their side past the 50 run mark, Latham mishit Piedt straight to Zubayr Hamza at short cover as the hosts slipped to 53/2.
This brought in Ravindra and along with Kane they looked relatively untroubled as they shared in a half century stand, easing their side over the hundred run mark and to lunch in a decent position.
Earlier in the match the Proteas batted first scoring 242 all out with Ruan de Swardt top scoring with 64 and Will O’Rourke picking up 4/59.
The Black Caps responded with 211 all out, Williamson top scoring with 43 and Piedt claiming 5/89 to give the Proteas a slim 31-run lead.
The visitors second innings was lit up by David Bedinghams 110, but a collapse of six wickets for 33 runs saw them all out for 235, as O’Rourke claimed 5/34, setting New Zealand the record 267 to win that they chased down in the end.
Report Day 1Report Day 2Report Day 3
NEW ZEALAND: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Will Young, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee (capt), Neil Wagner, Will O’Rourke
SOUTH AFRICA: Neil Brand (capt), Zubayr Hamza, Raynard van Tonder, David Bedingham, Keegan Petersen, Ruan de Swardt, Clyde Fortuin (wk), Shaun von Berg, Dane Piedt, Tshepo Moreki, Dane Paterson