South Africa v New Zealand - Tour Match

South African Board President's XI v New Zealanders
Willowmore Park, Benoni
3 Day Game
Umpires: RGA Ashman & DV Collins
Toss: SAB XI

SAB XI: G Kirsten, *A Melville, WR Endean, AW Nourse, PN Kirsten, RA McLean, +HB Cameron, JH Sinclair, PL Symcox, CR Matthews, AJ Bell.
NZL: GM Turner, B Sutcliffe, AH Jones, GP Howarth, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, CL Cairns, +AC Parore, RJ Hadlee, DN Patel, DK Morrison.

Rain on days two and three ruined New Zealand's tour match as a competitive fixture, but the play that was possible did manage to provide one or two pointers for the Test series nonetheless. Alan Melville inserted the tourists upon winning the toss, and Sutcliffe's first ball dismissal to one that kept low from Sinclair provided his decision with almost immediate justification. Turner dug in for 44, but by mid afternoon the tourists had managed to amass just 111 runs for the loss of four wickets, and despite batting all the way down to Patel at number ten, the Kiwis looked in distinct trouble.

Former captain Geoff Howarth managed to accumulate a solid fifty though, and with current skipper John Reid looking in good touch, the rest of the day belonged to the New Zealanders as the pitch settled down and the runs flowed. Reid powered his way to an excellent hundred, and although he did flash through the slips on more than one occasion, he always flashed hard and deserved his ultimate reward. Howarth on the other hand continued to bat in more sedate fashion, and it was quite out of character when he pulled the first two deliveries from Sinclair on day two for four to bring up his own century. When Howarth was finally caught behind off Bell for 112, his partnership with Reid was worth 226 runs and had taken the New Zealanders well past the 300 mark, allowing Reid to declare shortly before lunch with the scoreboard reading 383-9.

Reid himself eventually amassed an imposing 143, and Chris Cairns marked his first appearance for the New Zealanders with an attacking cameo of 27. The pick of the South African bowlers was the unheralded 'Sandy' Bell, whose right arm seamers returned the excellent figures of 6-72, but Bell apart the bowling was poor, and it was a similar story as the SAB XI got their innings underway in earnest. New Zealand's bowlers were not helped by the fact that the remainder of day two turned into a real 'on and off' affair due to persistent showers, and Gary Kirsten took full advantage of the lack of rhythm shown by the tourists' bowlers.

Kirsten had reached 60 by the time stumps were drawn on day two, and on the third and final day he added a further 100 runs in between the showers, adding 107 with 'Dave' Nourse (49) and 98 with half-brother Peter (63*) before finally driving Reid into the covers, a tired stroke ending what had been a fine innings. Danny Morrison, although finishing wicketless, was probably the only New Zealand bowler to enhance his reputation, whilst Chris Cairns turned in a decidedly underwhelming performance with the ball, picking up just one wicket for 89 off 21 largely unimpressive overs. Cairns is still expected to make his Test debut in Bloemfontein though, and with Martin Crowe expected to be fit after missing this game with a side strain, it will be interesting to see if Howarth's century will find him a place in the XI for the first Test.

1st innings scorecards
(click to enlarge)

Scores
NZL 1st Inns 383-9 dec. (Reid 143, Howarth 112, Turner 44; Bell 6-72)
SAB XI 1st Inns 349-5 (G Kirsten 160, PN Kirsten 63*, Nourse 49)

MATCH DRAWN