Williamson hails New Zealand's Hamilton show

A well-contested series between New Zealand and South Africa came to a rather abrupt, and in some ways unfortunate, end as the final day's play at Seddon Park was washed away due to rain, robbing the hosts of a chance of levelling the three-match series and ending their home summer on a high.

South Africa were still trailing by 95 runs with five wickets remaining in the second innings, going into Day 5. Having taken a 175-run lead in the first innings, New Zealand had reduced the opposition to 80 for 5 at Stumps on the penultimate day of the match. However, no play was possible and the tourists went on to win the series 1-0.

This wasn't the first time in the series that an exciting finish was washed away due to rain. At the Hagley Oval in the first Test, both teams stood well placed to win the match, before rain ensured no play was possible on Day 5.

"Obviously (it is) very frustrating, coming into the last day with a lot to play for, saying that we were probably quite fortunate to play as much cricket as we did in this Test," Kane Williamson, New Zealand skipper, said at the post-match press conference on Wednesday (March 29). "Overall, we have to look at this game as a really positive game and one that was potentially one of our best Test performances of the home summer, (it was) just unfortunate not to get the last day and push for a result against one of the best Test teams in world cricket.

After the first match ended in a draw, New Zealand were blown away in three days in Wellington in the second Test. On a green wicket, spinners JP Duminy and Keshav Maharaj combined to bag 12 wickets and take their side to an emphatic win.

Things weren't looking too pretty for the hosts from thereon, especially with injuries to some of their senior players - Trent Boult, Ross Taylor and Tim Southee - and loss of form of the top order going into the final match. However, both the batting and the bowling departments came up with clinical performances to ensure a consistent dominance in Hamilton over the No. 2 ranked Test side.

"The guys picked up the roles they were given with a number of players out as you mentioned, and ran with it," Williamson noted. "There was a great buzz amongst the group, although fairly inexperienced and young, the guys really took it on and had a good time and enjoyed themselves. It's not easy to do at times in Test cricket, against one of the best nations, a very strong side, and I thought the contributions from all the boys throughout this match were fantastic, we stuck with it well which is what you need to do in Test cricket and they were all looking forward to today.

"It is pleasing, it shows we do have the belief and what it takes - it'd be nice to not have to bounce back, we do want to be more consistent in that area, but I do think that when you play well in a Test match over a period of five days, it is a positive sign. We showed that with the number of partnerships created with the bat and also the bowlers, a relatively inexperienced bowling attack and the guys were superb for a long period of time and very demanding.

"Adding all those things up, and adding one of the best sides in the world into that mix, I thought it was a really good series, with a bad day's cricket in Wellington. Ultimately a really positive experience for the team to build on."

In the final Test, New Zealand team management kept their faith in Tom Latham, who had scored less than 80 runs in his last 10 innings coming into the match, and the left-hander repaid that by stroking a fine half-century, apart from taking a brilliant catch to dismiss Faf du Plessis in the first innings. The likes of Jeet Raval and Mitchell Santner dropped anchor and played a crucial support role for Williamson, who registered a record-equalling 17th Test ton enroute a superb innings of 178.

"It was great to spend a lot of time in the middle but also to bat alongside Jeet who played superbly at the top of the order, in all games in this series, which is a tough thing to do with one of the best new-ball bowling attacks in world cricket, batted beautifully," the New Zealand skipper said. "Also spent some time in a partnership with Mitch Santner who played fantastically well in a really tough spell of bowling yesterday, so those partnerships, to be able to contribute to a good team first-innings total, it helped us get into a strong position, that's the most satisfying part."

Williamson also praised Colin De Grandhomme for bowling well in conditions that aided seam bowling. With Southee and Boult not playing two of the three Tests, De Grandhomme opened the attack for New Zealand in two of the three Tests and returned with six wickets at an average of 24.83. The allrounder hadn't done much of note with the bat in his last Test, but came out to stroke a quickfire half-century and, with the lower order, helped New Zealand extend the lead to 175.

"He's a very good bowler, he's bowled extremely well for us, certainly on surfaces that have offered a little bit of seam and movement, someone like Vernon Philander, who is one of the best bowlers in the world.

"(Vernon) does bowl at that slower pace but does hit the wicket hard and does exploit seam movement, as perhaps where we see Colin aspiring towards that level and he's performed extremely well with the ball in hand, new ball, created a number of opportunities and also performed that holding role when needed," he concluded.