LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: Faf must take a chance and the Black Caps just need a mistake
Faf Du Plessis might need to win this series as much as the New Zealanders — more if he wants to fulfil his ambition of surpassing Graeme Smith achievements
It is hard not to like New Zealand as a cricket tourist. Even those who suffer worst from the autumn cold and drizzle, which seem to penetrate just a little more than usual, cannot fail to be brightened by the warmth of the hospitality. SA seem to tour these parts at the end of the summer, when Super Rugby season has started and much of the nation’s sporting attention has been averted to the oval ball game. There is a reason for that, apart from scheduling practicalities and logistics. The Proteas are popular enough to keep the public’s imagination alive. Having chopped up Pakistan and Bangladesh and added Australia’s ODI team as a garnish to a busy summer of success, the Black Caps now face their stiffest challenge.The country’s record of losing 12 and drawing three out of the 15 series they have contested against SA weighs more heavily on the public than the players but does, nevertheless, leave the cricketers feeling as though they are confronting an enormous weight of history. T...
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