NZ wins against SA following Williamson’s two hundred and Ravindra’s 240

In the first Test at Mount Maunganui, Kyle Jamieson’s four-wicket haul and Mitchell Santner’s three-for enabled New Zealand to score their second-highest run total of 281 against South Africa. Without David Bedingham’s counterattacking 87 off 96 balls, the losing margin would have been much greater.

Following the lunch and tea breaks, Jamieson scored twice in a row, destroying significant stands as South Africa, needing to score 529 runs to win, folded for 247 in 80 overs. Although strong partnerships were formed, South Africa lost too many wickets to win. Except for Bedingham, Raynard van Tonder, Keegan Petersen, Zubayr Hamza, and Zubayr Hamza all had starts, but none of them went on to get a huge one.

Earlier, New Zealand set an unlikely target for South Africa when they declared their second innings overnight at 179 for 4. Under cloudy conditions, their bowlers Tim Southee and Matt Henry quickly found help and left South Africa at 5 for 2 in the fourth over. In the opening over, Southee caused Edward Moore some trouble by curving the ball both ways. However, in Henry’s second delivery, Neil Brand appeared to be taken off guard, as Tom Blundell made an incredible catch to his left. But the captain of South Africa was saved for review.

But Southee’s inbound beauty broke Brand’s resistance, ending his stint at the crease. He got the ball to jag in from the around-the-wicket angle, and Brand saw his stumps in a mess and was late, not sure if he should play at the ball or leave it. A collapse looked inevitable at that juncture, with the ball hooping around and the batters uncertain. However, van Tonder and Hamza lingered.

After appearing strong in the first innings, Hamza took the first four wickets in the 11th over, a powerful blow through covers off Jamieson, and soon after that, he cut Southee square. Pushing past mid-on, Van Tonder, on a pair on debut, scored his first Test runs. Though he made several passes and misses and an edge went short of second slip, he persevered despite his nervous moments. Without incident, the two proceeded to lunch after quickly bringing up South Africa’s first-ever 50-run stand in the Test.

Three overs after lunch, though, rookie van Tonder’s 83-ball vigil came to an end, despite his valiant efforts, when he edged a full-length delivery from Jamieson straight into the hands of Tom Latham, who was just wide at slips. After two overs, Hamza was the one to go as his feeble attempt at a pull at mid-on could only reach Southee.

With the score at 73 for 4, Bedingham and Petersen came together in the 33rd over to add 105 for the fifth wicket, with the former accounting for most of the runs. With trepidation, Bedingham swished and missed a few balls before twice nudging Jamieson past the lone slip, Latham, who was placed wide. Petersen, though, appeared more sturdy.

From the 35th to the 46th over, South Africa could only muster 16 runs and one boundary in 11 overs. Opportunities were made, but not many truly came to pass. Bedingham made the decision to let go when Matt Henry arrived with a short-ball strategy. Bedingham displayed his T20 skills in this Test, and in style, having chosen to withdraw his name from the SA20 draft in an attempt to play in this series. In an over that ended for 19, Henry fell short of him four times in four balls, but each time he made room and stepped towards the leg side, he was carted for a boundary.

Then, Rachin Ravindra was hit for a straight four down the ground, which helped Bedingham reach his second fifty in Test matches before he developed a soft spot for Southee. The fast bowler was short, and Bedingham perfectly executed his back-away-and-swing-for-the-hills strategy. Bedingham hauled Southee for twenty-eight in the final ten balls he faced before tea. South Africa finished the second session with 111 runs off 28 overs, 71 of which came from the final 10 overs.

After smashing 48 runs in just 22 balls against Bedingham, New Zealand lost the match, but the stroke ultimately proved to be his undoing after tea. Reluctant to alter his strategy, he pursued Jamieson’s first over following the interval; however, his misplaced pull was caught at deep midwicket, causing Bedingham to fall 13 short of a potential maiden Test century.

The match was almost over when Jamieson got Peterson to collect a short ball down to deep-backward square leg. Ravindra made a good low catch. Unfortunately, Clyde Fortuin’s innings was cut short when he caught a long hop from Glenn Phillips right in Latham’s knee at short leg. The ball popped up for Blundell, the wicketkeeper, to complete the catch.

After forcing Santner to ground out, Duanne Olivier terminated Dane Paterson’s daring inning on the fifteenth to seal the victory for the home team and give them a 1-0 lead.

Ravindra was declared Player of the Match for his 240 in the opening innings.