Proteas expecting seam and swing bowling onslaught from New Zealand at Hagley Oval

SA are bracing themselves for a seam and swing bowling onslaught during the first Test match against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch starting on Thursday.

The Proteas are up against the Black Caps in the two-match series at this venue where top order batter Rassie van der Dussen says its surface doesn’t offer much for spinners.

“The conditions have been good for seam bowling and there hasn’t been much on the surfaces with regards to spin,” Van der Dussen as they continued with their preparations.

“There is quite a bit of bounce and the pace on the Hagley Oval wicket which is something to get used to but luckily for us it is similar to the university venue (Lincoln University) where we trained since we arrived here.”

Van der Dussen said they had enough time to assess the conditions and they are working on plans on how to deal with the New Zealand pace attack of Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Colin de Grandhomme and Blair Tickner.

“We have had about a week of batting and bowling in these conditions, sort of working out what works and how the conditions are playing. I expect that to be the case in the middle, the wicket here always looks very green and grassy but the surface underneath is quite hard.

“So, it makes it consistent in terms of bounce and pace and we know that in New Zealand conditions are good for swing and seam bowling and that will definitely be the challenge for us in the first match.”                     

New Zealand have never won a Test series against SA and Van der Dussen said they are going all out to protect the proud record.

“I was aware that New Zealand has never beaten us in a series but it is not something that we have spoken about as a team. The SA teams of the past have really been successful over here and I think it is because conditions that usually favour seam bowling and that might be the reason for that.

“It is a proud record but it is a bit different in this series because they are the defending world champions and their team has really been successful over the past couple of years.

“They have played a lot of cricket at home, I am not even sure if they have played any cricket away. They obviously know the conditions very well and they are suited to them but it is definitely a record we will be looking to defend.”