Piedt's wait ends with fantastic five

Dane Piedt spent 1,574 days waiting for Wednesday. Happily the limbo was worth it, as he made clear to reporters in Hamilton: "It was a great day of cricket. A great day of cricket for South Africa. We couldn't have asked for a better day."

It started, for Piedt, with the 16th ball of the second day's play - when Will O'Rourke bowled fellow debutant Shaun von Berg off the inside edge. With that Piedt grabbed his bat and gloves and headed for the middle to resume a Test career that had been paused since October 22, 2019 - when he was part of the side who were beaten by an innings by India in Ranchi.

Piedt's return lasted six balls, the last of them a short delivery from Tim Southee that he gloved to a diving Tom Blundell. There's nothing great about that. But Piedt was central to what happened after South Africa were bowled out for 242 a scant 19 balls after he went, their last four wickets tumbling for 15 runs. New Zealand were dismissed for 211 with Piedt taking 5/89. More than nine years after making his debut, in his 10th Test and 22 days away from his 34th birthday, he had claimed his second five-wicket haul and new career-best figures.

The moment he will remember most came midway through the second session when he found turn and bounce to have Kane Williamson, who scored 118 and 109 in the first Test in Mount Maunganui last week, caught at short leg for 43. "Kane Williamson, in my opinion, is the best player in the world at the moment," Piedt said. "It's the way he goes about his business. He's such a humble man, too. You always have a great conversation with him. But it's always nice getting the big fish."

How did Piedt get here? By way of retiring from the international game in March 2020 to further his career in the nascent professional T20 league in the US with a view to representing that country. He had played only two Tests after Keshav Maharaj made his debut in November 2016. By the time Piedt announced his decision, Maharaj had played 30. It was clear who South Africa, who don't often deploy more than one spinner, had entrusted to be their slow poisoner in chief.

And so, with good grace, Piedt took his talents elsewhere. But his journey took an unexpected kink when it became clear that this year's SA20 schedule would collide with the Tests in New Zealand. Maharaj, like most of South Africa's preferred XI, was compelled to play in the tournament. That created a slew of vacancies in the Test squad. It was the job of Shukri Conrad, South Africa's red-ball coach since January last year, to find players to fill them.

"I was in the US and Shukri sent me a message to ask if I was keen for New Zealand," Piedt said. "I thought he was lying. I replied in the way that I normally do - that's the relationship we have. We go back to 2008 when he was the Cape Cobras' coach. He told me, 'I am being serious'. It's come full circle."

When Conrad contacted him Piedt knew nothing of the SA20 situation. He did know that if he wanted to resume his Test career he would have to relocate his life - most importantly his wife and son - to play in South Africa's domestic first-class competition. But that, too, had moved on since his last match there, for the Cobras against the Titans at Newlands in January 2020, when he went for 0/45 and 0/110. So he had to settle for a gig with second-division Free State.

In Piedt's first match for them, against Limpopo in Bloemfontein in November last year, he took 5/55 in the second innings. The week after that, against Northern Cape in Kimberley, he shared the new ball in both innings and claimed 3/82 and 3/72. Most of the squad in New Zealand played in an A series against West Indies in South Africa in November and December. Piedt took 2/60 and 2/58 in Benoni, and 5/28 and 6/76 in East London.

That might surprise those who see off-spinners as the dowdy dads of bowling. They are not supremely athletic like fast bowlers, rebels like left-arm spinners or cerebral schemers like wrist spinners. Off-spin is what you resort to when you realise you're not much good at bowling anything else, can't cut it purely as a batter, and don't keep wicket.

Consequently off-spinners need exponentially more belief, confidence and positivity than other players if they are to reach the higher levels. Either that or they must have the modesty to know they are not the star attraction, that their job is to ensure as little as possible happens while the fast bowlers rest, the left-arm spinners pout, and the wrist spinners plot their next mad move.

Piedt is something else entirely: an offie who has the audacity to try to get batters out. It's an approach that has survived everything cricket and life have thrown at him, including being left out in Mount Maunganui. And it shone through what he said on Wednesday: "I thought I was in the game all the time. New Zealand are a quality Test team, a proper cricket team. They are not just going to give it to you. It takes 10 and 15 overs of perseverance and persistence. And we got in. We know we are on the back foot all the time and we try to take those windows of opportunity."

In the context of New Zealand winning by 281 runs at Bay Oval, where South Africa were likely spared an innings defeat only by Tim Southee's decision not to enforce the follow on when the visitors were dismissed 349 runs behind, for them to take a first-innings lead of 31 in Hamilton is astounding. Now what?

"We've got to do the things we continuously do; pound away at the wicket and be consistent and not give them free scoring opportunities," Piedt said. "I don't foresee the pitch getting easier so that's going to make for a really competitive match. Day three is going to be exciting."

Maybe too exciting? Maybe not for a bunch of SA20 leftovers and throwaways who might just have become a team: "The camaraderie has been really good. It's a tight-knit team and when pressure situations come you can lean on the next guy. We'll lick our lips for the fourth innings but we've just got to bat well tomorrow."

Best they do, because they will share the spotlight with South Africa's women's team, who play their first ever Test against Australia at the WACA from Thursday. That will mark only the second time both South Africa's Test teams will be in action on the same days - on August 21 and 22, 2003 the men were playing England at Headingley while the women were taking on the same opponents in Taunton. Should things not go well for the men's team we could see another first: the Kiwis have never beaten South Africa in a Test series.

Avoiding that fate loomed large for Piedt even as he looked back on his success at Seddon Park: "It will mean nothing if we don't get over the line in the end."