There is a different atmosphere altogether in world cricket at the moment following the historic achievements that three teams managed this past weekend in Australia and India.
From Shamar Joseph’s inspirational journey to Test cricket and his influence to the West Indies’ Test victory on Australian soil after a 27-year winless period down under, to Proteas women’s first-ever victory over Australia, this past weekend has seen all the ‘underdogs’ achieve the unthinkable.
To add icing on the cake, England defeated India in India in a Test match, a feat most teams struggle to achieve against a team that has not lost a home Test series in over a decade.
Somehow, the so-called Proteas ‘second-string’ team seemed to be had the same energy rubbed off of them as they looked to have an added bit of confidence and finesse about themselves on Monday on what was the first day of their three-day warm-up match against New Zealand XI.
Right from the moment Neil Brand and Edward Moore walked to the middle to have a bat for the first time on the tour, the two left-handed batters looked the part as if it is not their first time on a Test tour.
As a result, the pair spent almost an hour together in the middle before Moore (20 off 35, 3x4) was undone by Luke Georgeson (1/49) in the 13th over the match.
Brand (46 off 85, 4x4, 1x6) soldiered on until he retired not-out in an attempt to give the rest of the batting line-up a chance to have time in the middle before the first Test gets underway this coming Sunday.
Five other batters including Raynard van Tonder (54 off 47, 6x4, 2x6), Zubayr Hamza (30 off 43, 4x4), Keegan Petersen (37 off 61, 6x4), Khaya Zondo (42 off 51, 3x4, 3x6) and Ruan de Swardt (53 off 78, 3x4,3x6) all retired not-out on Day one as the visitors dominated the New Zealand XI outfit.
The visitors declared with 339 runs on the board and will be looking to unleash the Duanne Olivier led bowling attack and give Tshepo Moreki, among others, the taste of international cricket on Day two.
Scorecard
South Africa: 339-5d (Raynard van Tonder 54, Ruan De Swardt 53, Neil Brand 46, Khaya Zondo 42, Jacob Duffy 1-30, Luke Georgeson 1-49)
Proteas Test Squad for tour of New Zealand
1. Neil Brand (c) 2. Edward Moore 3. Raynard van Tonder 4. Zubayr Hamza 5. Keegan Petersen 6. David Bedingham 7. Khaya Zondo 8. Ruan de Swardt 9. Clyde Fortuin (wk) 10. Mihlali Mpongwana 11. Shaun von Berg 12. Duanne Olivier 13. Tshepo Moreki 14. Dane Piedt 15. Dane Paterson
IOL Sport