South Africa vs New Zealand 2017: 3rd Test, Day 4, 5 Talking Points
Colin de Grandhomme's quickfire half-century and a slew of poor strokes from the South African top order has handed the advantage to the hosts on an enthralling day of cricket at Seddon Park.
Resuming on their overnight lead of 7, Williamson and Santner were bogged down by some tight bowling by Rabada and Morkel. Morkel eventually had Williamson for 176 and Santner soon followed to leave New Zealand's lower order to build a good lead.
Extra Cover: New Zealand closing in on victory against Proteas
de Grandhomme did just that with some lusty blows and then returned to dismiss Dean Elgar quickly. Horrible running between the wickets saw the back of debutant de Bruyn and Amla, and Duminy threw away their wickets to Patel. de Kock and du Plessis carried the team to stumps but it is safe to say that New Zealand hold all aces going into day 5.
Brief Scores: South Africa 314/10; New Zealand 489/10 (Williamson 176, Raval 88, Morkel 4/100); South Africa 80/5 (Amla 19, Patel 2/22)
Have a glance at the major talking points of the 4th day of the final Test from Hamilton.
#5 Santner's struggling knock
New Zealand had opted to bring in Mitchell Santner for James Neesham given that the pitch was on the slower side. But unlike Neesham, Santner is yet to prove his credentials with the bat in Tests and asking him to bat at No. 6 seemed like a gamble.
The left-hander played out some tired bowling with solid defensive strokes at the fag end of Day 3. Even a fresh South African attack on Day 4 could not break through Santner but he was patchy against short balls that it was only a matter of time before something gave way.
That did not happen for 151 balls, however. He hung around long enough to watch Kane Williamson top edge Morkel. Santner had looked uncomfortable against Rabada and Morkel and eventually edged nicked the former to gully to depart for 41.