Cricket: South Africa tour will test Black Caps depth

Doug Bracewell is expected to have an opportunity against South Africa. Photo / Dean Purcell

Proteas' World Cup ousting will give series extra edge.

The last time New Zealand were in South Africa, they were squashed in the two tests but bounced back to win the ODI series.

The first part is engraved in cricket minds around these parts, not the second.

And the short visit which starts with the first of two T20s, early tomorrow in Durban, is all about the short game.

NZ's test game is in good shape. They haven't been beaten in a series since mid-2013. They made the World Cup final in March and are up to No 3 on the ODI rankings, behind Australia and India and a point ahead of South Africa, and No 4 on the test list.

"The [2-1] one-day series win the last time we were over here [early 2013] was a big start for us," coach Mike Hesson said. "We hadn't won a series in SA and we were under-strength, so to win that was a big achievement for us.

"That was the start of a pretty big two years culminating in a World Cup final and the test team moving up the rankings steadily."

This tour - two T20s then three ODIs - should have an extra edge, for it was New Zealand who toppled South Africa, off the unlikely bat of Grant Elliott, at Eden Park in March to shut South Africa out of the World Cup final.

Expect the South Africans to be bristling against a New Zealand side short of several key figures. Captain Brendon McCullum, new ball pair Trent Boult and Tim Southee and allrounder Corey Anderson are all missing, but there's no shortage of incentive for those who are in Durban.

They won the last three of their four games in Zimbabwe before the South African leg. This will be a much tougher test against a team who don't need elephantine memories to have an added incentive.

New Zealand's away record of late is decent, notably a 3-2 win over Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates at the end of last year.

"A true test of a side is how well they go away from home," Hesson said. "Just about every side performs well at home because that's what they have grown up doing. We have started to win series away from home on a relatively consistent basis and that's a sign that we are making progress."

New Zealand spent a week in Potchefstroom, with a couple of warmup games, before heading to Zimbabwe. The extra prep time won't hurt coming out of a New Zealand winter and Hesson is tipping the type of pitches New Zealand will encounter may not offer the scope for the full-on aggressive cricket they have produced this year.

But the approach won't change. They are wedded to an attacking philosophy.

"We've identified the way we want to play our cricket, the way we want to be known and respected by our own fans and we're proud of the way we play the game," Hesson said.

Having initiated George Worker into the side, with an impressive early result in the final ODI against Zimbabwe, and got legspinner Ish Sodhi back in the fold, expect to see seamer Doug Bracewell given a similar opportunity in SA.

His last ODI was two years ago; his most recent T20 two-and-a-half years ago.

The seam bowling depth is decent - in no particular order Boult, Southee, Matt Henry, Neil Wagner, Ben Wheeler, Mitch McClenaghan and Bracewell are vying for selection in one form or other.

New Zealand want their underpowered squad to get fully tested. That's likely to happen in the next week. How they measure up will be a good indication on how the search for depth is progressing.