March 01
South Africa have taken the final six wickets with relative ease on the fifth and final day to claim an emphatic 198-run victory over New Zealand in the second Test at Christchurch.
The home side showed some fight with the bat at times at Hagley Oval on Tuesday, but ultimately had too much to do as Keshav Maharaj (3/75) picked up the final New Zealand wicket early in the final session to ensure victory.
It means the two-Test series ends up tied at 1-1, following New Zealand’s resounding win by an innings and 276 runs in the opening Test last month.
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Resuming at 94/4 and still needing a further 332 more runs for an unlikely victory, New Zealand made a cautious start through Devon Conway and Tom Blundell.
Paceman Lutho Sipamla (1/29) made the vital breakthrough for South Africa by getting rid of Conway (93) just before lunch and, when Blundell (44) and first innings centurion Colin de Grandhomme (18) fell in quick succession after the break, the Proteas were just three wickets away.
South Africa took the second new ball midway through the middle session and it almost paid immediate dividends as Kyle Jamieson was given a life in comical circumstances with Marco Jansen’s first delivery with the new cherry.
The triumph sees South Africa earn valuable points in the ICC World Test Championship standings, although they remain in fourth place with 60% of possible points.
New Zealand stay in sixth position on the standings, with their percentage of possible points dropping to 38.88 percent.
Brief scores: South Africa 364 and 354/9 decl beat New Zealand 293 and 227 (Devon Conway 92, Tom Blundell 44; Kagiso Rabada 3/46, Marco Jansen 3/63, Keshav Maharaj 3/75) by 198 runs.
