A rampant Dale Steyn yesterday took three wickets with his first 10 balls to leave New Zealand reeling on 18-4 at lunch on the fourth day, chasing a target of 400 to win the second Test, and the series, against South Africa.
Steyn removed both openers in his first over at Centurion. Tom Latham was bowled by the first ball of the visitors’ second innings, leaving a delivery too close to his stumps, and Martin Guptill fell to the sixth, edging to Hashim Amla at slip.
Steyn trapped Ross Taylor LBW with a wicked delivery in his second over, which stayed alarmingly low and hit the batsman on the ankle.
Captain Kane Williamson, who top-scored for New Zealand in their first innings of 214, was caught by a superb dive from wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock off Vernon Philander in the fourth over.
Henry Nicholls (7) and B.J. Watling (5) were not out at lunch, with New Zealand in serious trouble with five more sessions to survive.
South Africa declared their second innings after an hour’s play on 132-7, setting New Zealand a nearly impossible target on a pitch with uneven bounce and widening cracks, which was proving increasingly treacherous for batsmen.
They had resumed on 105-6, with Philander going just before the declaration and Temba Bavuma not out on 40.
The highest fourth-innings total in a Test at the venue was 251 scored by England 16 years ago.
With the first Test of the two-match series drawn, South Africa are well set to retain their record of never having lost a series to New Zealand.
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