A FIGHTING half-century from Ruan de Swardt revived South Africa on the opening day of the second Test against New Zealand after Rachin Ravindra’s triple strike put them in trouble.

The visitors came up with a shoddy batting performance yet again, and were reeling at 101/5 at one stage before going into stumps at 220/6.

Opting to bat first, South Africa made a poor start when Clyde Fortuin drove away from his body the first ball, only to get an edge as Glenn Phillips took a stunning one-handed catch. That did not deter Raynard van Tonder from driving his first ball for a boundary to get going. After a brief resistance, South Africa lost skipper Neil Brand, as the debutant William O’ Rourke managed to pick up his first wicket in just his third over.

While the likes of Van Tonder and Zubayr Hamza got starts, they failed to capitalise and put up a substantial score. Van Tonder chased a wide short delivery from Neil Wagner to hand a catch to the fielder at gully, whereas Hamza became Ravindra ‘s first victim.

The left-arm spinner began his spell with four straight maiden overs, and conceded only a single in his next over before opening his account. Keegan Petersen failed to get his eye in as he edged Ravindra behind to the slip fielder that reduced the visitors to 101/5.

A 49-run stand between de Swardt and David Bedingham kept South Africa afloat for a while.

But Ravindra got the huge wicket of Bedingham, who had already smashed two fours in the over, only to get a bit unlucky as he jammed a yorker-length delivery from the spinner straight to the short-leg fielder.

However, any hopes of running through the lower order were squashed as de Swardt held firm at one end. He had Shaun von Berg for company at the other end, as the duo batted through the rest of the day.

Ravindra’s return to the bowling crease could not break the partnership either, as New Zealand wasted no time in taking the second new ball. While Tim Southee found the outside edge immediately, the ball flew for a boundary before de Swardt brought up his fifty with a drive through the covers. South Africa will now heavily rely on this pair to drag them past 300 on the second day. (Cricbuzz).