South Africa beat New Zealand in Hamilton Test to take 1-0 lead

Hamilton: Vernon Philander achieved his best Test bowling figures of six for 44 and Graeme Smith made an unbeaten half-century on Saturday as South Africa beat New Zealand by nine wickets in the second Test to lead the series 1-0.

Philander swept through New Zealand's tail after lunch on the third day to fill his fifth bag of five wickets or more in his short Test career. He posted match figures of 10 for 114 after taking four for 70 in New Zealand's first innings (185).

New Zealand were all out for 168 after trailing by 68 runs in the first innings and South Africa only needed 19.5 overs to make up the 101-run margin. Smith scored 55 and Hashim Amla 46 in an unbroken 98-run partnership.

The 26-year-old Philander became the first player in 130 years to reach 45 wickets in his first six Test appearances, a statistic that staggered him.

"Heck, now you're going back a long way," he said. "It's just going well for me. I've been bowling well in our first-class competition back home, so I'll take it and hopefully I can get us through another few Test matches this year."

"Bowling is like batting and when you have the form, you have to take advantage."

South Africa completed their win over New Zealand in only two and a half days to take a critical 1-0 lead in the three-match series, after the two teams drew the rain-affected first Test in Dunedin. The third Test starts in Wellington on Thursday.

New Zealand resumed their second innings on Saturday at 65-4, still trailing South Africa by three runs and with the best of their batters already back in the pavilion.

Kane Williamson, who resumed at 41 not out, lifted his total to 77 in the morning session, but lost two partners — Daniel Vettori for 21 and Kruger van Wyk for 20 — before New Zealand went to lunch at 142-6.

Williamson was then out without adding to his score only three balls into the second session — and South Africa quickly capitalized. Philander had Williamson caught by Mark Boucher, the South African wicketkeeper's 550th catch in Tests.

Doug Bracewell then followed without scoring and Mark Gillespie hit a six and two fours in a brief innings of 14 before becoming Philander's fifth victim, also caught by Boucher.

Philander completed his best bowling figures in Tests — topping his previous best of five for 15 against Australia — when he bowled Chris Martin to end the New Zealand innings. The Kiwis lost their last four wickets after lunch in only 27 balls, in 25 minutes.

South Africa suffered a momentary setback when they lost opener Alviro Petersen (1) in the second over. But Smith and Amla calmly and quickly led the tourists to their winning total. Smith took his 55 runs from only 60 balls with eight fours and a six, while Amla scored his unbeaten 46 from 56 balls with nine fours.

"It's always good to win a Test away from home but we had to work for it," Smith said. "We weren't so proud of our batting performance in the first innings."

South Africa took charge on the first day when New Zealand collapsed dramatically from 133-2 to 133-7 before being all out for 185.

Recalled fast bowler Mark Gillespie, playing his fourth Test and his first in four years, then took five for 59 as South Africa slipped to 88-6 before recovering to claim a precious 68-run first-innings lead. AB de Villiers made 83 and Morne Morkel was 35 not out.

New Zealand slumped to 7 for 3 in their second innings and never recovered to set a demanding total for the Proteas to chase.

"At 88 for six in the first innings it was a bit squeaky in our changing room," Smith said. "But I think it's a sign of a good Test team that we were able to get ourselves out of trouble and get ourselves into a position where we were able to dominate the game."

New Zealand's top order batting failed again, as it has throughout the series, but captain Ross Taylor said the Kiwis had to approach the final Test with a positive frame of mind.

"South Africa just outplayed us," Taylor said. "We played well in parts and were probably on top at a couple of crucial times but South Africa pegged us back."

"We've got to pick ourselves up from this. We're not out of this series and we can still draw the series come Wellington."

NZ build lead after Vettori's five-for

Bulawayo: New Zealand led by 141 runs despite slumping to 28-2 at stumps after bowling out Zimbabwe for 313 on the third day Thursday of the one-off Test at Queens Sports Club.

Vusi Sibanda scored 93, just short of his maiden Test century. The opener played fluently for his 11 fours and a six until he mis-hit a short and wide Dean Brownlie delivery to Ross Taylor at gully before lunch.

After lunch, Malcolm Waller hit an undefeated half-century on debut to revive Zimbabwe from 193-4 in response to New Zealand's first-innings total of 426.

Waller, whose father Andy played two Tests for Zimbabwe against England in 1996, faced 133 balls and smashed nine fours and a six in an innings in which he punished anything short or wayward.

Waller and fellow debutant Regis Chakabva repaired the innings with a mature partnership of 86 runs for the sixth wicket before Chakabva was run out on 37 by a combination of Doug Bracewell and Reece Young.

"It was a good, I think we batted well as a team and it was a pity that I ran out of partners," Waller said.

"Reggie's run out was the turning point because we were going on nicely. When we came in, we were both under pressure as we had lost two big wickets and the score was not looking good, so we just talked to each other and tried to stay positive.

"It's still a good wicket to bat on; it's just starting to turn and Vettori is starting to give us problems."

Zimbabwe slipped to 193-4 after losing captain Brendan Taylor on 50 and former skipper Tatenda Taibu for 20 soon after the lunch break.

Experienced New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori ended with figures of 5-70 at the expense of the Zimbabwe tail after tea, and seamer Chris Martin grabbed two wickets to clean up and reach the 200-wicket mark in Tests.

"I have waited for this milestone for 10 months and it was a long day of work for me but it was nice," Martin said. "Also, watching Danny getting to 350 wickets was also great.

"A lead was very important. We wanted to bowl them out for less than 300 but still it was close enough. A few Zim guys got in but didn't quite take the opportunity. I think a lot depends on the first session tomorrow because with wickets in hand we can accelerate our run rate."

In New Zealand's second innings, Zimbabwe pace bowler Kyle Jarvis produced a brilliant full delivery to clean-bowl first-innings centurion Martin Guptill for a duck before spinner Ray Price trapped Brendon McCullum lbw plumb in front for 11.