New Zealand v South Africa, 2nd Test, Hamilton, 1st day

Steyn, Philander trigger dramatic slide

A catastrophic collapse - that surrendered five wickets with score stuck on 133 - swung the match emphatically in favour of South Africa, as they dismissed New Zealand for 185 on a rain-shortened day one in Hamilton. But the hosts also struck with ball, dismissing Graeme Smith and nightwatchman Dale Steyn before stumps, to leave South Africa at 27 for 2. The rain delay, which came early in the second session, allowed only 72.2 overs to be bowled in the day. 

New Zealand 185 (McCullum 61, Philander 4-70, Steyn 3-49) v South Africa

A catastrophic collapse, which surrendered five wickets with the score stuck on 133, swung the match emphatically in favour of South Africa, as they dismissed New Zealand for 185 on day one in Hamilton. The capitulation came after an 89-run stand between Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor, during which the hosts progressed steadily on a pitch that offered little to the bowlers past the opening 40 minutes. Dale Steyn led the mid-innings assault, ambushing McCullum with a short ball and a deep square leg, before taking the shoulder of Kane Williamson's bat with another sharp bouncer, next over. Vernon Philander then charged through to flatten the middle order, felling Taylor, Daniel Vettori and Doug Bracewell in six balls.

McCullum had brought up his half-century with a six over vacant square leg, but did not shelve the stroke when Graeme Smith appointed a fielder in the deep, with South Africa having persisted with the short length for much of the innings. Having chided himself for attempting to pull a short Steyn delivery in the previous over, McCullum attempted the stroke again - this time to one that had risen well over his head, taking the top edge. If he was disappointed at once again having squandered a start, his mood can't have been improved by the clatter of wickets that followed.

Taylor drove at one that was too short for the stroke, giving Graeme Smith a simple catch at second slip. In the first innings of the first Test, too, he'd departed soon after McCullum, after the pair had got themselves in. Williamson, Vettori and Bracewell then strolled in and were all on their way out again, without having scored a run - Williamson was caught at slip, Vettori was bowled by one that nipped back and Bracewell edged behind. After having been a healthy 133 for 2 in the 49th over, New Zealand had plunged to an appalling 133 for 7 in the 52nd.

Mark Gillespie and Kruger van Wyk played their shots following the slide, pushing their side quickly towards 200, but the pair could not maintain the resistance for long. Morne Morkel trapped van Wyk in front of the stumps, before Imran Tahir had Gillespie caught brilliantly by Alviro Petersen at midwicket. When Brent Arnel perished in Tahir's following over, New Zealand had gifted South Africa a mountain of momentum and the chance to bat on a quickly flattening pitch.

Tea New Zealand 94 for 2 (McCullum 38*, Taylor 29*) v South Africa
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor began to string together another promising partnership before the rain interrupted

Only ten overs were possible in the afternoon session before rain stopped ply in Hamilton, interrupting a promising partnership between Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor. The pair's last stand had given New Zealand hope of an unlikely win in Dunedin, and they resumed their association with similar confidence at Seddon Park, to take New Zealand to 94 for 2 at tea. South Africa had snared New Zealand's openers, but were unable to trouble the hosts' two most experienced batsmen, as the favourable bowling conditions both sides had anticipated failed to materialise beyond the first 40 minutes.

Groundsman Karl Johnson had invoked a wedding analogy to explain the greenness in the pitch three days ago, but as he had suggested, the Seddon Park surface that had threatened to be a bridezilla held few terrors for batsmen as three hours unfolded. Movement off the seam was modest to begin with and quickly gave out, with swing in the air also lasting only a few overs despite cloud cover overhead. Graeme Smith employed only two slips by the tenth over and though more catchers returned briefly towards the end of the first session, it was Morne Morkel's bounce, rather than significant movement, that prompted the change.

Taylor began after lunch with two commanding strokes down the ground off Vernon Philander, highlighting both his own form and also the trueness of the pitch, less than 30 overs into the match. McCullum had done the same when he climbed into a back foot punch in the previous session, and the pair were largely unflustered by a South African ploy to pepper them with short deliveries once it became clear all movement in the surface had been exhausted.

Dale Steyn returned with more pace following the break, and floored McCullum with a sharp bouncer, but the batsman stood firm thereafter - he blunted the bounce off the back foot when it rose to his chest, and picked singles through the sparse on-side field when Steyn pitched a tad fuller. Philander was also negotiated unfussily, with both batsmen picking straighter deliveries to score, as the bowler sought to attack the stumps once the lack of movement made his off-stump line less effective.

Taylor and McCullum were called on to rebuild, because New Zealand lost Martin Guptill and Rob Nicol in the previous session. Both openers were undone by technical deficiencies that had become apparent in the first Test. Nicol was once again dismissed by an away-seaming delivery from Philander, despite his efforts to counter the movement by shuffling forward and across the stumps, while Guptill, who had looked good for his 22, hung an angled bat well outside the off stump to drag Steyn back onto the wickets, in a repeat of his first-innings dismissal in Dunedin.