KEY POINTS:
What a difference a day makes. After day one we were all pleasantly surprised but after day two the feeling is one of deflation.
You'll be reading this after day three which is still an unknown, but based on what happened in day two I don't hold great
hope.
I didn't hold great hope leading into this test match in the first place. That is not because of a lack of belief in the New Zealand team - I actually think this team are quite capable - but because they were coming out of an 11-month test-match slumber.
After day one I thought perhaps this team are up to speed. Certainly the bowlers were. They had a decent work out in the last warm-up game and were impressive in bundling South Africa out. However day two's effort with the bat demonstrated the team are well off the required mark for test cricket.
Perhaps the bowling success first-up is reflective of the inherent predatory nature of bowling. You initiate the play and a good ball on a good length at good pace is a good ball in any conditions against any opposition, all things being equal. Granted the extra pressure the sight of a quality batsman at the receiving end can make it a little harder than usual to find rhythm and confidence.
If that was the case with the good start to this test match, then I'll argue the bad start to our batting effort is reflective of the inherent reactive nature of batting. As a batsman you must confront what is delivered and when confronted with quality bowling delivered at pace our batsmen looked well short of the required familiarity for this level.
It was the usual suspects once again - pace and hostility. They have caught us on the hop early in test series against numerous opponents and Steyn and Ntini caught us hopping again.
It would be nice to be able to blame the pitch but with South Africa 179 for two in the second innings that is hard.
But conditions are not easy for batting. This is not a feather bed. The ball has moved sideways and bounced irregularly. There has been plenty of uncomfortable bounce already but, as Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis demonstrated, a good dose of application and familiarity at this level goes a long way.
New Zealand will rue the missed chance early off Amla. It was the third dropped catch in the game for New Zealand, and by men with very good hands. These things happen but they do happen more often when one is just not comfortable with their surroundings.
After the damage of day two - which was always going to be the pivotal day if New zealand was top pursue a favourable result - the game could be lost early.
I hope not, but for that to be avoided New Zealand had better get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable very quickly.