Bedingham’s brilliant ton and O’Rourke’s five-wicket haul set the stage for a thrilling conclusion in Hamilton!

A day filled with firsts set the stage for an exciting conclusion to the Hamilton Test, which was played between South Africa and New Zealand………

In an effort to preserve their great record of never having lost a Test series against its hosts, the Proteas discovered a new batting hero in David Bedingham, who struck his first century in a Test match. Despite the fact that his remarkable 110 gave the visitors a substantial lead, William O’Rourke, who was making his debut, scored a five-fer to bring his team back into the game and maintain it in the balance. On Day 3, New Zealand was 40/1 at Stumps to win the series. Dane Piedt had already taken five wickets in the first innings, and he added Devon Conway’s head to his collection. New Zealand was on track to chase 267 to complete a historic series victory.

By the end of the day, South Africa was marginally ahead of New Zealand, with New Zealand needing to score an additional 227 runs on a pitch that was assisting heavy turn. South Africa began the day in the ascendancy, having scored 31 runs throughout the first innings. On the other hand, they did not get off to the best possible start to the play for the day. Both of their openers, Clyde Fortuin and Neil Brand, were able to make it through the first ten overs without suffering any injuries. However, Clyde Fortuin had a more difficult time staying in the middle of the batting crease, and he was eventually dismissed after overbalancing against an attempted paddle sweep and wearing a delivery from Rachin Ravindra that was very straight on his pads. Immediately following the early breakthrough, O’ Rourke was brought into the game. He made his first strike in his second over with a short ball that Raynard van Tonder attempted to take on but was only able to top-edge to the fine-leg fielder.

But the young bowler had the final laugh by getting a delivery to nip back in from a good length to find the South African captain’s inside edge on its way to the ‘keeper. Brand pulled and drove O’Rourke for boundaries, but the young bowler had the last laugh. Even though Bedingham was the new batter, Brand was responsible for 34 of South Africa’s first 39 runs. However, with an overall advantage of 70, there was a lot of work that needed to be done.

The fifth-ranked player from South Africa got off to a flying start, smashing four fours and a six so that he could score 34 runs off of his first 36 deliveries before lunch. Ravindra and Glenn Phillips, who were both spinners, allowed 30 runs to be scored during a three-over stretch, which was the moment when the tap was opened.

Following the intermission, Bedingham continued in a manner comparable to the previous one, cutting Tim Southee for an early boundary. O’Rourke was responsible for another four runs before Hamza was dismissed, which brought an end to the 65-run fourth-wicket stand that had been going on. New Zealand took 36 overs before sending Neil Wagner into the attack. The left-arm seamer struck with just his fifth delivery with one of his signature short balls, which Hamza attempted to take on but holed out to deep square leg. New Zealand’s innings was a success.

In spite of South Africa’s continued use of the short ball theory, the strategy did not yield any additional benefits, with Bedingham in particular being able to handle it completely without any problems. An off-side four that was hammered over the cordon and a back-away pull that resulted in a six over the middle wicket were the two shots that set the tone for that game. On the other hand, Ravindra was unable to provide any control to Tim Southee. Bedingham and Keegan Peterson all hit him for boundaries, which forced the New Zealand captain to bring in Phillips, who also hit him for boundaries. Ravindra was unable to offer Southee any control.

During the 98-run stand, Peterson played an outstanding support hand, and New Zealand was in a difficult position when they were 202/4 and the lead was getting closer and closer to 250. Subsequently, a moment of fielding brilliance that occurred early on in the last session swung the game around once more. Peterson, who was batting at the time, sliced a short ball from Matt Henry uppishly, and a diving Phillips pulled out a blinder at gully to provide the home team with a much-needed opening.

They were able to claw their way back into the competition without any further assistance. During the subsequent over, Bedingham scored his first-ever century in a test match, which he accomplished after facing 127 balls. However, immediately after that, Phillips took another wicket by castleing Ruan de Swardt. After that, O’Rourke came back to dismiss the centurion, who, like him, cut a short ball uppishly towards the gully, where Phillips was able to make a somewhat easier catch. A five-fer was completed by O’Rourke in his fourteenth over, which included the dismissal of two more wickets by Phillips, who had previously taken Dane Piedt out of the game. From a position of control, the visitors had lost six wickets for thirty-three, which set up an exciting conclusion to the match.