2nd Test Day 1 SA V NZ

SA 325/4 90 overs

South Africa: Smith (C), Petersen, Amla, Kallis, de Villiers (W), Du Plessis, Elgar, Peterson, Steyn, Kleinveldt, M Morkel

N Zealand: Guptill, B McCullum (C), Williamson, Brownlie, Flynn, Watling (W), Bracewell, Munro, Patel, Boult, Wagner

South Africa 1st Innings

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Petersen	c Patel	b Bracewell	21	40	3	0
Smith	c Watling	b Wagner	54	88	8	0
Amla	not out		106	211	8	0
Kallis	c Watling	b Bracewell	8	11	2	0
de Villiers	c Williamson	b Patel	51	81	6	0
Du Plessis	not out		69	112	8	1
Extras		3nb 2w 5b 6lb	16
Total		for 4	325	(90.0 ovs)

Bowler O M R W Boult 19.0 2 74 0 Bracewell 21.0 2 70 2 Wagner 22.0 2 88 1 Patel 19.0 1 60 1 Munro 9.0 0 22 0

Fall of wicket   29 Petersen 121 Smith 137 Kallis 223 de Villiers

Lunchtime report: Brendon McCullum looked a slightly relieved man when the coin fell in Graeme Smith's favour and South Africa batted first in Port Elizabeth. Neither did he have to make a tricky decision nor were his team forced into the position where they could only lose another Test in a session. Still, the early honours went South Africa's way despite some probing bowling from the visitors as Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla took them to 99 for 1.

There was some early movement on offer - the first ball of the Test was a low full toss that swung to take Alviro Petersen's inside edge past the stumps as he drove - and there was some pace in the pitch which kept the batsmen on their toes. Petersen was the one wicket to fall, top edging Doug Bracewell to fine leg when he failed to keep down a hook shot.

Bracewell produced a good opening spell which included clonking Smith on the back of the helmet as he turned his head away from a bouncer. Smith needed a few minutes to compose himself and close to being lbw a few moments later. That was a curious piece of cricket: the umpire said not out, McCullum decided not to review and replays showed it was hitting middle but Bracewell had overstepped.

Amla had a slightly nervous start when he got a leading edge against Neil Wagner which looped wide of mid-on. However, when Jeetan Patel was introduced for the 15th over - New Zealand have no fourth-seamer in this Test following James Franklin's injury - Amla was aggressive straight away with a powerful sweep and by lunch was starting to purr.

Smith was not at his best and had to battle. His outside edge was located by all three seamers, but Smith was good enough to keep the ball short of the slips and benefited from a couple of boundaries to third man. Wagner, recalled in place of Chris Martin and playing against former team-mates, caused some tricky moments but had a tendency to bowl a touch short.

New Zealand's problem was maintaining pressure. They bowled enough good deliveries to take more than one wicket, but a loose ball was never too far away. Trent Boult dropped short at Amla and was pulled through midwicket and a wide delivery from Wagner was slashed away by Smith. It was far from the nightmare of Newlands, but a long haul lies ahead.

Tea time report: Unlike the first day at Newlands last week, the opening exchanges in Port Elizabeth resembled a proper Test match. South Africa were handily placed at tea on 191 for 3, but New Zealand made them work for their position with lively seam bowling on a surface that offered some encouragement.

Brendon McCullum looked a slightly relieved man when the coin fell in Graeme Smith's favour. Neither did he have to make a tricky decision nor were his team forced into the position where they could only lose another Test in a session. Few expect New Zealand to draw level in the series, but they need to build on the improvement showed after the horrid start in Cape Town.

And without putting South Africa firmly on the back foot at any stage they ensured it was not one-way traffic. They bowled better before lunch than one wicket suggested, although struggled to build pressure with loose balls being dispatched, especially by Hashim Amla, who was later dropped on 48, but the first hour of the afternoon brought the significant blows of Smith and Jacques Kallis.

Smith had not been at his best and was worked over the New Zealand seamers. Doug Bracewell, during a testing opening spell, clonked him on the back of the helmet as Smith turned his head away from a bouncer. Smith needed a few minutes to compose himself and close to being lbw a few moments later. That was a curious piece of cricket: the umpire said not out, McCullum decided not to review and replays showed it was hitting middle but Bracewell had overstepped.

His outside edge was located by all three seamers, but Smith was good enough to keep the ball short of the slips and benefited from a couple of boundaries to third man. Neil Wagner, recalled in place of Chris Martin, caused some tricky moments but had a tendency to bowl a touch short.

However, as Smith so often does, he stuck in and reached fifty from 80 balls only to glance a delivery from Wagner down the leg side. For Wagner, the left-armer, it was an emotional wicket against a side that includes former team-mates. His later contest with AB de Villiers certainly had an extra level of intrigue.

Kallis began with an imperious pull but then got an inside edge driving at Bracewell which left South Africa 137 for 3. For the first time in the series there was just a small opening for New Zealand, although by tea Amla and de Villiers had settled the innings with a calm partnership.

There had been some early movement on offer - the first ball of the Test was a low full toss that swung to take Alviro Petersen's inside edge past the stumps as he drove - and there was some pace in the pitch which kept the batsmen on their toes. Petersen was the first wicket to fall, top edging Bracewell to fine leg when he failed to keep down a hook shot.

Amla had a slightly nervous start when he got a leading edge against Wagner which looped wide of mid-on. However, when Jeetan Patel was introduced for the 15th over Amla was aggressive straight away with a powerful sweep and by lunch was starting to purr. He moved to the interval with two stylish leg-side clips but also showed the bowling respect when New Zealand struck after the break.

His fifty came with a cut through point three balls after he was given a life by Kane Williamson in the gully when he failed to keep down a back-cut. During the tour of New Zealand last year, Williamson pulled off a couple of stunning catches. This one was tough, but easier than those, and one New Zealand desperately needed him to take.

Stumps report: For significant parts of the opening day in Port Elizabeth New Zealand pushed South Africa reasonably hard, which is much more than happened last week at Newlands. There were spells of testing bowling, a fair amount of playing and missing and some blows for the batsmen to take. However, the final scoreline, anchored by Hashim Amla's 19th Test hundred, is one of South Africa dominance on a surface that certainly was not placid.

Whether South Africa's bowlers would have got more out of it in the first session will remain an unknown, but Brendon McCullum certainly looked relieved when he did not have to make a decision at the toss when the coin fell Graeme Smith's way. Few expect New Zealand to draw level in the series, but they needed to build on the improvement shown after the horrid start in Cape Town.

And without putting South Africa on the back foot at any stage they at least ensured it was not one-way traffic. They bowled better before lunch than one wicket suggested, although struggled to build pressure with a steady supply of loose deliveries, but the first hour of the afternoon brought the significant blows of Smith and Jacques Kallis to leave South Africa 137 for 3.

The key moment of the day, though, came a few moments later when Amla, 48, failed to keep a back-cut down against Trent Boult but Kane Williamson could not hold on at gully. During New Zealand's tour of Sri Lanka last Williamson held some stunning catches. This one was tough, but easier than those - and one New Zealand desperately needed to take. From there, Amla's century felt inevitable.

Three balls later he went to his fifty with a square cut, and it was the same shot that took him to a hundred during the final session from 187 balls. It was not Amla at his most flamboyant, as was the case in Australia on occasion, but for that New Zealand's bowlers deserve some credit although the finishing touch was still often missing with a boundary-ball offered to keep the scoreboard moving. Neither is patience a problem for Amla and he was happy to wait, rather than try to manufacture too much on the first day.

Amla's catch was not the only missed opportunity for New Zealand. Facing the second new ball, Faf du Plessis gloved Boult down the leg side but was given not out. After some deliberation McCullum did not review only for HotSpot to clearly show the touch. Du Plessis, much to the amusement of the South Africa changing room, tried his hardest not to let on what had happened. He also had some problems against Jeetan Patel with one edge falling tantalisingly short of McCullum at slip.

However, like Amla, du Plessis was hungry to make New Zealand pay for their mistake. He went to his fifty with a crunching pull that cleared deep midwicket and benefited from the second new ball with the extra hardness helping it run away. The fifth-wicket stand was worth 102 by the close. In reality, this was still men against boys.

There was early movement on offer in Port Elizabeth's first Test since 2007. The crowd was not massive although, hopefully, over the weekend that will improve. For their sake it was good that New Zealand could not be blown away in a session again. Alviro Petersen did not survive the opening hour, top edging Doug Bracewell to fine leg when he was not fully committed to the shot.

Bracewell was the pick of New Zealand's seamers and troubled Smith, who was not at his best, including clonking him on the back of the helmet as Smith turned his head away from a bouncer. Smith needed a few minutes to compose himself and was close to being lbw a few moments later. That was a curious piece of cricket: the umpire said not out, McCullum decided not to review and replays showed it was hitting middle but Bracewell had overstepped.

Smith's outside edge was located by all three seamers, but he was good enough to keep the ball short of the slips and benefited from a couple of boundaries to third man. Neil Wagner, the left-armer who was recalled in place of Chris Martin, caused some tricky moments but had a tendency to bowl a touch short.

As Smith so often does, he stuck in and reached fifty from 80 balls but then glanced a delivery from Wagner down the leg side. For Wagner it was an emotional wicket against a side that includes former team-mates. His later contest with AB de Villiers, who went past 6000 runs, certainly had an extra level of intrigue.

Kallis began with an imperious pull but got an inside edge driving at Bracewell, leaving Amla and de Villiers to ensure there was no significant wobbles in the middle of the day as they consolidated against the workmanlike attack. The pair added 86 for the fourth wicket until de Villiers lazily gave his innings away when he chipped Patel to midwicket. It was a waste from de Villiers, a mistake that Amla was not going to make.