Boult leads strong New Zealand bowling effort

DURBAN: Trent Boult led an impressive New Zealand bowling effort as South Africa struggled on the first day of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead on Friday.

South Africa made 236 for eight before bad light brought an end to an overcast day played under floodlights almost from the start.

"We´re happy with where we are," said left-arm pace bowler Neil Wagner, who finished with three for 47.

He was also happy that stand-in South African captain Faf du Plessis decided to bat in what were always likely to be challenging conditions.

Boult was superb in an opening spell of one for eight in eight overs.

Just when it seemed South African openers Stephen Cook and Dean Elgar had weathered the early storm from Boult and Tim Southee, Boult struck with the last ball of his seventh over when he had Cook caught behind for 20 after an opening stand of 33.

Doug Bracewell had Elgar caught at second slip and JP Duminy fell into a trap when he top-edged a short ball from Wagner to fine leg.

Boult came back after lunch and made another crucial breakthrough when he had top-scorer Hashim Amla caught behind for 53.

The ball which dismissed Cook moved away slightly from the right-hander, while Amla was caught off an inside edge from a ball which swung in. Boult finished the day with two for 42.

After much speculation about how the pitch would play in an unusual time of the year for Test cricket in South Africa, Amla said: "It played pretty much as a standard Kingsmead wicket.

One of those who played an injudicious stroke was wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, who raced to 33 off 33 balls before being caught at wide mid-off trying to hit a third successive boundary off left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.

De Kock had helped Temba Bavuma add 48 for the sixth wicket in a partnership which threatened to break New Zealand´s hold on the game. Bavuma made 46, with some crisp off-side drives, but two balls after De Kock´s dismissal he too fell to Santner, missing a sweep to be leg before wicket.

While De Kock and Bavuma had reason to rue their choice of strokes, Du Plessis fell to a sensational diving catch by New Zealand captain Kane Williamson off Wagner after making 23 in an 84-ball vigil.