Plays of the day from the first ODI between South Africa and New Zealand in Centurion

Firdose Moonda19-Aug-2015The wickets that weren’t
Rilee Rossouw nagged at New Zealand’s patience as he offered them chances that they just could not take. The first came when he had laboured his way to 9 off 23 balls and it could have all been in vain. He was struggling to read the pace of the pitch when he got an inside-edge onto his thigh pad and the ball carried through behind the stumps. Luke Ronchi had to take a few steps forward but even so, the ball bounced just before him to give Rossouw a lifeline and frustrate New Zealand’s attack. Rossouw offered another chance when he was on 34 and slog-swept to deep square leg, where Adam Milne had to make ground and apply some judgment. He did the first and some of the second but spilled the ball as it dipped on him.On the mic
Faf du Plessis was ruled out of the ODI series with a knee injury but that did not stop him from a guest appearance in the commentary box, where he found himself alongside his former captain Graeme Smith. The banter turned to dress code with Smith accusing du Plessis of not giving his shirt sponsors enough mileage. “I’ve never known anyone who walks around the dressing room without a shirt on as much as Faf,” Smith joked. Du Plessis had a ready retort: “When I first met you, you always had some dodgy hairstyle. And now look at the finished article – short and back and sides, cleaned up.” Thank goodness they both have day jobs.Wringing the hands
On an outfield that Russell Domingo said looked like “anyone could break a leg,” fielders on both sides could be forgiven for not putting their bodies on the line when the ball went aerial. New Zealand saw a few chances drop into vacant spaces and when David Miller sent a second shot aerial in the 48th over, Martin Guptill went for the catch. He ran in from deep midwicket to chase a top-edge and put in a dive but the ball fell short of him. As he fell forward, Guptill remembered the wrist injury he was carrying and tried to protect his left hand but only hurt it further. He had to leave the field and could not open the batting but returned later in the chase.Following the plans
The whole world knew Dale Steyn’s bowling plans after they were leaked on the morning of the game and so the whole world wanted to see if they would be executed accurately. From ball one, Steyn showed he had read the document which instructed him to angle the ball in to Tom Latham who could get caught at point or square. The first delivery shaped in, Latham flicked to square leg and Farhaan Behardien failed to take the catch low down. Three balls later, Steyn was bowling to Ronchi, who had to replace the injured Guptill at the top, and was supposed to concentrate on fourth stump. He bowled outside off, Ronchi chased it and offered David Wiese a catch at second slip, which was put down. Just as Steyn may have begun to think he was the only one following the plans, with another delivery outside off to Ronchi, Hashim Amla gave him his reward with a catch at first slip to dismiss Ronchi.The other wickets that weren’t
New Zealand were unlucky in the field but South Africa struggled more and put down several chances. Apart from the ones in the first over, Guptill was dropped at slip and then Jimmy Neesham on the fine leg boundary, in what was the best example of how challenging catching was. Neesham got a thick edge of a pull shot which was skied Kagiso Rabada’s way but he had to contend with a swirling ball and searing lights. Rabada positioned himself where he thought he was under the ball but then changed direction and over-ran it as the ball bounced to his right. If Steyn was disappointed, he did not let Rabada know and he didn’t have to – the youngster was irritated enough with himself.