New Zealand yesterday won a Test series against South Africa for the first time, with Kane Williamson hitting an unbeaten century to steer them to a seven-wicket victory in the second Test.
Williamson’s unbeaten 133 was at the heart of their 269-3 in the fourth innings of a tight Test in Hamilton to complete a 2-0 series win over the understrength tourists.
The Black Caps had not beaten the Proteas in 17 previous Test series dating back to 1931, having lost 13 and drawn four.
Photo: AFP
The 33-year-old Williamson was methodical throughout a 260-ball stay, putting on an unbroken stand of 152 with Will Young, who scored 60 not out, as New Zealand reached their target of 267 late on the fourth day.
The in-form Williamson scored his seventh century in his past seven Tests, which included twin tons in the 281-run first-Test victory at Mount Maunganui.
His 32 centuries have come from 172 innings, surpassing Australia’s Steve Smith (174 innings) as the fastest player in Test history to reach that milestone.
Photo: AP
Williamson batted through the day after New Zealand resumed at 40-1.
He adopted a disciplined approach on a tricky pitch, but was always prepared to punish loose deliveries, scoring 12 fours and two sixes.
“It was very much a patience game and both teams were aware of that,” Williamson said. “It was just about trying to put the ball in the right area for long periods with the ball, and as batters we were sticking our toes in. It was a bit of old-school Test cricket, I suppose. Credit to South Africa, certainly for the first couple of days they outplayed us. We had to fight hard to get out of that position and change the momentum.”
New Zealand seamer Will O’Rourke finished with nine wickets on his Test debut to earn the man-of-the-match award, with Williamson named player of the series.
New Zealand briefly wobbled when opener Tom Latham was dismissed in the first session for 30 and Rachin Ravindra soon after lunch for 20, but Young dug in to reach his seventh half-century.
The inexperienced Proteas struggled to make an impact aside from Dane Piedt, who finished with 3-93 to give him eight scalps in his first Test in more than four years.
Off-spinner Piedt struck early by removing Latham, the opener caught by Zubayr Hamza driving to short-cover after adding 9 to his overnight score.
Ravindra was undone by a near-identical shot after New Zealand had resumed the second session at 107-2.
South Africa were fielding a side missing the majority of their first-choice players, who skipped the series to instead contest their lucrative domestic Twenty20 league.
Captain Neil Brand was one of seven Proteas to make their Test debut in the series.
Brand lamented losing their final six wickets for 33 runs late on the third day to relinquish a commanding position after the Proteas led by 31 runs after the first innings.
“I’m definitely more disappointed after this Test match, just because we were in the game,” he said. “The last session yesterday probably cost us a bit, but we were still confident coming into this morning and, to be fair to our bowlers, they left nothing out there.”
Brand described the series as an “awesome experience” and hoped some of his players had done enough to earn ongoing selection for South Africa.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
RSS