NZ vs SA, Day 3: Bedingham’s ton and William ORourke’s five-for keep the match as well as the series in balance

New Zealand still requires 227 runs inside 2 days to win with 9 wickets left.

Day 3 stumps- NZ 211 (first innings) and 40/1 ( Conway 17, Latham 21*) in the second innings.

On day three of the second Test in Hamilton, Will O’Rourke’s five-wicket haul on his Test debut enabled New Zealand to storm back into the match following David Bedingham’s elegant century. In the last session, South Africa went from 202 for 4 to 6 wickets for 33 runs, leaving New Zealand with a goal of 267.
At stumps, New Zealand was 40 for 1, having lost Devon Conway to Dane Piedt’s ball, which proved to be the final one of the day. As the match enters its fourth day, both sides are finely positioned with New Zealand requiring 227 runs and South Africa needing nine wickets.

Should New Zealand succeed in chasing this, it will surpass Australia’s 2000 210-run goal and become the most successful chase at Seddon Park.

Early on in the day, New Zealand made a good impression, falling two wickets to O’Rourke during his morning delivery and one to Rachin Ravindra. Neil Brand lingered for a short while before being dismissed for a sixty-ball 34 in South Africa’s 39 for 3. Zubayr Hamza and Bedingham then gave South Africa the much-needed impetus. As South Africa scored 30 runs off of Ravindra’s three overs prior to lunch, Bedingham in particular took aim at his subpar deliveries. After lunch, when Matt Henry and O’Rourke were causing the ball to nip about a considerable bit, the two, who had begun the morning playing aggressively, changed to playing cautiously.

It was unexpected that Tim Southee, playing his first Test in over a year, needed 36 overs to give the ball to Neil Wagner. The 65-run partnership was ended by Wagner in just five balls when an impatient Hamza holed out to deep square-leg off a short delivery. But once more, South Africa took command after that, as Bedingham and Keegan Petersen managed to forge a solid alliance.

Even though Bedingham has only played in four Test matches, his approach and thought process seemed very clear; maybe this was due to his nearly ninety years of first-class cricket expertise. When called upon, he played with aggression and scored quickly. He played nearly a perfect innings, hitting 12 fours and two sixes in his 141-ball stay.

On the other hand, Petersen cruised through the middle practice, good against pace and spin. They put up 98 runs for the fifth wicket in unison, putting South Africa ahead for tea.

However, Henry set off a collapse just as it appeared that South Africa would put the game beyond New Zealand, with Glenn Phillips’ incredible catch at gully sending Petersen back for 43 setting the tone.

Shortly after, Ruan de Swardt exposed his stumps while attempting a sweep, and Phillips, with his offspin, cleaned up. However, O’Rourke once again provided the crucial wicket, dismissing Bedingham for 110, with Phillips playing a part once more in the plot. Bedingham sliced a back-of-a-length delivery, but Phillips was waiting in the gully for precisely that opportunity.

Within an hour of the last session, New Zealand had completely destroyed South Africa with to the additional bounce on offer and O’Rourke’s speed and precision.

With an overall match total of 9 for 93, O’Rourke became the first bowler from New Zealand to get the best bowling stats on his Test debut.