Day 3 at Wellington: Nice Day at the Office

Wellington's weather held up well for the whole day, and as a result we got a good, even competitive, day of test cricket in. Both sides should be pretty happy. South Africa continue to be in control, only lacking the extra push for the jugular, while New Zealand greatly improved on their lacklustre start to the test.

NZ basically managed the sort of day which ought to be their regular showing at the test level. And this despite some disappointing captaincy from Ross Taylor, who had the field well back and ordered Williamson and Vettori to bowl negative from one end. Credit, then, to the pacemen who dragged NZ and the game forward.

After a listless first session where Petersen and Duminy got their respective centuries, Chris Martin opened things up with a couple of wickets and Mark Gillespie continued to be a certified wicket-taker despite being in pain. Well done to him for a six-wicket haul.

Guptill and Flynn then got a thorough examination from the South African pace quartet. There was noticeably less movement for Philander so maybe this made things easier, but it was great to see both looking comfortable after a point. Though I still believe Flynn shouldn't be opening, after Rob Nicol's struggles it was good to see someone handling Steyn and co. with some assurance, and it also allowed Guptill to play more freely. Of course, if Flynn goes on to make 70 or more, he'll have probably locked down the opening spot for the next ten tests.

To put things in perspective, Flynn passed the aggregate of Nicol in one innings alone, and this opening stand of 65 is NZ's highest against SA since 1999, which is a cause for minor celebration. The return of Flynn and Gillespie after being discarded and putting in the hard work in domestic cricket has certainly brightened things up, although the test and the series is pretty much out of reach.