”We’re a Test team on the up” was the way Proteas captain Graeme Smith described South Africa’s innings and 59 run victory over New Zealand in the second Castle Lager Test on Sunday.
South Africa bowled New Zealand out for 136 after tea on the third day, to clinch the match and the series with two days to spare.
”We’ve got a few things going at the moment,” he told journalists after the match.
”We’ve bowled really well. Our attack was superb throughout the series and I think that made the difference. On the wickets we’ve had, to have three or four guys hitting 140km an hour constantly, with the cracks opening up, with the movement in the wickets, even when the ball gets soft, you’re still creating chances
throughout and putting pressure on the batters.
”We also had some key partnerships that really set up the wins, and I think that made the difference. I think New Zealand will be disappointed in their performance.”
He said he was not surprised by South Africa’s success in their last four Tests. ”I don’t think we over-achieved,” he said. ”We know what we’re capable of — it’s just about producing it, and I’m glad we did that.”
Smith praised the performance of Dale Steyn, who took 10 wickets in both Tests.
”He’s bowled superbly,” he said. ”You just have to look at his statistics. He’s bowled with pace, he’s got good control and he’s got the ball to swing. We’ve bowled him in short spells, which has allowed him to maintain that pace. The other guys have worked around him and allowed him to come back at different times and strike for us,” he said.”I think he deserves all the credit he gets for these two Test matches.”
Man of the match and man of the series Steyn, who is now ranked eighth in the world, alongside Brett Lee, was humble about his achievements.
”On a personal level, it’s nice to get into the Top Ten, but I just want my performances to show and that I’ll do well for the team, and that’s my priority,” he said.
”I wouldn’t say I’ve arrived,” he said. ”I’m just doing what I have to do and putting the ball in the right place and communicating well with my captain.”
Black Caps skipper Daniel Vettori was understandably disappointed by his team’s capitulation in both Tests.
”We thought we could come back and put up a better performance than we did at the Wanderers, but we’ve probably delivered a similar performance here,” he said.
”I think the way of getting over our poor Test performances is to play more Tests and also for every individual to work on his skills so that he can do better. We need to put in good quality performances against quality opposition. We’ve got a series against Bangladesh coming up, but if we win that, it doesn’t mean we’ve necessarily become a good Test team.
”We’ve got to put up good performances against quality teams like South Africa and Australia and England , back home in our summer.”
Vettori said the way South African players had taken their chances had been the difference between the two teams.
”When they needed to, a couple of guys stood up and put in pretty impressive performances together. Kallis and Amla, and their two partnerships, and the way Steyn bowled throughout the series, probably set the two teams apart. If we’ve taken opportunities in those two partnerships, then maybe we’d have given ourselves a chance.” – Sapa