CAPE TOWN - Rival skippers Graeme Smith and Stephen Fleming were doing their best to evoke the memory of Hubert "Nummy" Deane last night, as New Zealand took the major honours on the first day of the second test at Newlands.
Smith started the ball rolling at the toss when
he shocked all and sundry by electing to send New Zealand in to bat, the first captain to make such a move at Newlands since Deane tried it against England back in 1928.
The South African skipper won't want to be reminded, but the move backfired spectacularly on Deane and was shaping as a major talking point at stumps this morning NZ time, by which stage New Zealand had moved through to a relatively comfortable 265 for six.
Central to the resistance was the hand of Fleming, who was unbeaten overnight on 114, having posted his ninth test century during the final session, in the process raising his long-awaited maiden hundred against South Africa.
The milestone would have come as something of a relief for the 33-year-old left-hander, who had been dismissed on 99 at Bloemfontein in 2000, and had more recently fallen for 97 against the West Indies at Wellington.
His previous century was his 202 against Bangladesh at Chittagong in October, 2004, some 21 innings ago.
Fleming found himself required in the middle following a mini-collapse on either side of the lunch break, and immediately set out to make amends for his lean experience at Centurion, where he was sawn off by an umpiring decision in the first innings, and dismissed cheaply in the second.
On this occasion he initially found a stubborn ally in the form of Nathan Astle, the pair both raising their half-centuries as they added 106 for the fourth wicket, leading their team from what appeared the brink of a major collapse, to relative safety.
Fleming brought up his 50 off 109 balls and sprinted through the second half of his century off 81 deliveries, slowing only when South Africa tried to dry up the run-scoring by employing an umbrella field.
He went to three figures in distinctly ordinary fashion, miscuing a lofted drive from Smith over mid-off for four, before raising his arms to the sky and accepting a congratulatory hug from partner Brendon McCullum.
Having pulled the surprise move of picking debutante off-spinner Jeetan Patel instead of in-form seamer Kyle Mills, New Zealand would have been pleased to find themselves batting first, but a little concerned that they lost six wickets in the day.
The test started brightly enough when Peter Fulton and Michael Papps ground out the first 50-run opening stand for New Zealand since last April, struggling against the new ball but earning credit for fulfilling their task and ensuring their middle order team-mates were not exposed prematurely.
Papps, struck in the chest in the opening over from Makhaya Ntini, was the first go just before lunch when he inexplicably shouldered arms against Andre Nel - who was replacing the injured Shaun Pollock - and lost his off-stump.
New Zealand would have been reasonably happy with their position at lunch (61 for one), but not so soon after the resumption, when first Fulton was brilliantly caught at the wicket for 36, and then Styris was struck flush in the side of the head by an Ntini bouncer.
It was the second time in as many months that Styris had been hit in the head, following his run-in with fast-bowler Fidel Edwards' in the first test against the West Indies at Eden Park.
As was the case then, the blow appeared to leave the New Zealand No.4 dazed and bewildered, and it was no surprise when, several miscues later, he eventually fell to a tame dismissal, edging Ntini to Boeta Dippenaar at first-slip.
Fleming and Astle led the fightback through the middle session, the latter lucky to survive a straight-forward caught behind off Nel when he was nine, and equally unlucky to be adjudged leg when he had reached 50.
Umpire Asoka de Silva, who has a reputation for handing out lbw decisions like party invitations, struck again just before stumps when he somehow decided that an Ntini delivery that struck McCullum high and leg-sideish, was going to hit the stumps.
* Scoreboard at close of play on the first day:
New Zealand 1st innings
M. Papps b Nel 22
P. Fulton c Boucher b Steyn 36
S. Fleming not out 114
S. Styris c Dippenaar b Ntini 11
N. Astle lbw b Ntini 50
J. Oram run out 13
B. McCullum lbw b Ntini 5
D. Vettori not out 1
Extras (b-1 lb-5 nb-6 w-1) 13
Total (for 6 wickets, 78 overs) 265
Fall of wickets: 1-50 2-62 3-82 4-188 5-237 6-259
to bat: J. Franklin, J. Patel, C. Martin
Bowling
M. Ntini 17 - 2 - 65 - 3
D. Steyn 13 - 3 - 37 - 1 (nb-5 w-1)
A. Nel 17 - 3 - 56 - 1 (nb-1)
J. Kallis 8 - 2 - 26 - 0
N. Boje 14 - 3 - 49 - 0
G. Smith 9 - 2 - 26 - 0
CAPE TOWN - Rival skippers Graeme Smith and Stephen Fleming were doing their best to evoke the memory of Hubert "Nummy" Deane last night, as New Zealand took the major honours on the first day of the second test at Newlands.
Smith started the ball rolling at the toss when
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