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Cricket 

South Africa beat New Zealand by 198 runs in second Test

Team MVR

South Africa outwitted and outplayed New Zealand in a crushing 198-run second Test victory in Christchurch on Tuesday to draw the two-match series 1-1.

New Zealand, facing a record fourth-innings chase of 426 to win, were all out for 227 eight balls after tea on the final day.

It completed a remarkable turnaround for South Africa who read the conditions far better than New Zealand after being thrashed by an innings and 276 runs in the first Test on the same ground.

Captain Dean Elgar set the tone when he became the first captain to win the toss and bat first at Hagley Oval, demanding his side “front up” after that humiliation and they obliged.

“It paid off for us. I am one for taking risks. This is a big one in terms of playing well away from home,” he said.

In terms of South African Test victories “it ranks quite high,” he added.

A century by Sarel Erwee laid the base for a first innings 364, Kagiso Rabada took five for 60 as New Zealand folded 71 in arrears and an unbeaten 136 from Kyle Verreynne in the second innings tightened the clamp on New Zealand.

A disappointed New Zealand captain Tom Latham, who saw the chance of a history-making first series win over South Africa slip away,put the blame on his batsmen.

“Our blueprint is about putting a big first innings score on the board, if we were able to do that things might look slightly different,” he said.

“Unfortunately we were not able to build partnerships in the first or second innings.”