Daniel Flynn of New Zealand fields the ball during day two of the Third Test match between New Zealand and South Africa at Basin Reserve. Photo / Getty Images.
South Africa have lost Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis to injury but, judging by the efforts of Alviro Petersen and JP Duminy on the abridged second day of the third test in Wellington, there remains plenty of depth to their batting. South Africa were 246 for two at stumps.
Kallis
missed the match with a stiff neck while Amla underwent emergency groin surgery after taking a missile in the box from Chris Martin yesterday. Amla was on 33 when he slumped to the ground but batted a further 12-and-a-half overs to make 63. He will take no further part in the match but expects to make a full recovery.
New Zealand can glean plenty from Petersen and Duminy's application. The duo's unbeaten partnership of 140 runs nullified the efforts of an attack that battled for no reward amidst a northerly gale.
Petersen and Duminy (in his first test in more than two years) played effortlessly off their legs for on-side singles and produced crisp cover drives.
They absorbed deliveries and exercised patience as the New Zealanders exhausted themselves. Their respective unbeaten innings - Petersen is just shy of a third test century on 96 and Duminy is 76 - means every South African specialist batsman has scored at least one half-century in the series.
