Vernon Philander provides South Africa with versatility and balance

In regard to the South African bowling unit, Rabada is the leader. However, the versatility and experience Philander offers creates the balance which could
put South Africa ahead in this series. Aside from his bowling, Philander has also made himself into a steady all-rounder currently ranked number 5 in the ICC player rankings.

3rd Test: Philander takes six as South Africa extend lead

Wellington: Vernon Philander took 6 for 81 to help South Africa dismiss New Zealand for 275 - one run more than their follow-on target - on the fourth day of the third Test on Monday.

Philander stirred memories of cricket's distant past when reached his 50th Test wicket in only his seventh match, quicker than any player in 116 years. He passed the milestone more quickly than all but one player in the history of Tests.

South Africa raced to 75 without loss in 15 overs before stumps, with Alviro Petersen 38 not out and Graeme Smith on 34, to hold an overall lead of 274 with 98 overs remaining on Tuesday's final day.

South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0 after winning the second Test at Hamilton by nine wickets.

Philander's rush to 50 wickets emulated the feats of a much earlier era of Test cricket.

Charlie "Terror" Turner achieved the milestone feat in his sixth Test for Australia in 1888 and went on to take 101 wickets in 17 Tests at an average of 16.

Tom Richardson of England claimed his 50th wicket in his seventh Test in 1896 and Philander matched his mark on Monday, though in a much shorter timeframe.

Richardson took two years, 303 days to play seven Tests; Philander has done so in only four months. He has also maintained an average that challenges Turner's and those of the best players in the game.

He has taken 21 wickets in the current three-Test series against New Zealand at an average of 14 and 51 wickets in his career at only 13.8.

South Africa are now in a strong position to declare early on the final day and to give Philander a further shot at New Zealand's batting lineup, depleted by Taylor's loss. 

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."

1st Test: NZ lead South Africa by 5 runs

Dunedin: New Zealand managed by small degrees to take a five-run lead over South Africa with one wicket standing on the second day of the first Test on Thursday.

Though 19 wickets had fallen in five sessions, the match defied the strenuous efforts of both sides to gain control.

South Africa was dismissed for 238 after resuming at 191-7 in an innings helped by half centuries to Hashim Amla (62), Graeme Smith (53) and Jacques Rudolph (52). No New Zealand batsman managed to reach 50 but contributions of 48 from Brendon McCullum, 46 from Daniel Vettori, 44 from Ross Taylor and 36 from Kruger van Vyk allowed the hosts to edge to 243-9.

New Zealand's last-wicket pair of Trent Boult (8) and Chris Martin (0) survived to stumps, but offer the hosts little hope of building a substantial lead.

For South Africa, Vernon Philander's remarkable Test career continued as he took 4-50 to increase his tally to 34 wickets in only his fifth Test.

After a frigid first day, trimmed by rain to 58 overs, Thursday's conditions were benign but, despite sunshine and a docile pitch, neither side managed to flourish.

There have been only two passages of play in the match when one side has been truly dominant: the latter part of the first session on Wednesday when Smith made his half century and steered South Africa to 86-1; and its immediate sequel, when Martin dismissed Smith, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers within four deliveries to terminally damage the South African innings.

Otherwise, the match has developed into an absorbing contest of attrition in which the initiative has regularly passed from one side to the other.

Martin took 4-56 to prevent South Africa's batsmen from establishing themselves and building a formidable first innings. Philander performed the same function as South Africa's most effective strike bowler.

New Zealand then, in an innings built around gritty partnerships, managed to grab a first-innings lead with eight wickets down and in the second-to-last over of the day when Doug Bracewell (25) hit Dale Steyn for four. In an incident illustrative of the nature of the day, Steyn skittled Bracewell's middle stump two balls later.

The day ended in virtual stalemate and with three days and two innings remaining the teams start almost from scratch on Friday. Warmer weather is likely to bake the already hard pitch at the University Oval, making it less supportive of fast bowlers and bringing rival spinners Vettori and Imran Tahir into contention on the last two days.

Leg-spinner Tahir provided a glimpse of his potential when he took 1-55 from 24 overs during New Zealand's innings. Mornel Morkel, the most successful South African bowler after Philander, took 2-52.

"It is parity," New Zealand's top-scorer McCulum said. "At times today I thought we played some pretty good cricket and I thought we could have pushed on for a bit bigger lead but that's the nature of this wicket. "The game is certainly evenly-poised at this stage."

South Africa added 47 runs for its last three wickets at the start of the second day, more than New Zealand was comfortable to allow. Rudolph progressed from 46 overnight to 52 but in keeping with the trend of the match couldn't go beyond that score. Philander made 22, Morkel 13 and Tahir 10.

New Zealand lost debuting opener Rob Nicol to Philander in the fourth over with the total at 7 but McCullum and Guptill steered it to lunch at 40-1.

Guptill (16) was bowled by Morkel in the over following the resumption and there followed one of the day's pivotal periods when McCullum and New Zealand's returning captain Ross Taylor put on 65 for the third wicket.

Taylor was playing his first innings in almost a month after recovering from a calf injury and he looked rusty. McCullum wasn't hitting the ball as sweetly as usual but the pair survived an hour-long examination from the South African pace battery to establish their partnership.

Both were peppered by short pitch balls but they were able to surmount that trial and to build the partnership which was the kernel of the innings. Again, in keeping with the trend of the match both fell just when they seemed to be established and about to go on to play a dominant role.

McCullum was caught and bowled by Tahir and Taylor was out for 44, flashing at a wide delivery from Morkel.

Vettori played a typically hardy rearguard role and made 46 in a partnership of 53 with South African-born van Vyk. After Vettori had batted for 107 minutes to support New Zealand's bid for a first innings lead, the diminutive van Vyk continued that good work.

He took New Zealand within nine runs of South Africa's total when he was caught by Smith at first slip off Philander. Tim Southee fell two balls later, leaving New Zealand eight wickets down and still needing 9 runs to match South Africa.

Bracewell and later Boult carried them over the line. But the match remains one so far dominated by bowlers.

"Heading into the Test match, we knew that both bowling lineups were potent when they got it right," McCullum said. "Both sides are playing four seamers so it gives both sides the opportunity to continue to attack."