Christchurch, New Zealand (Christchurch, NZ) is a city in New Zealand.New Zealand and South Africa are focused on the traditionally green Hagley Oval pitch as they prepare battle strategies for Thursday’s first Test against each other.
New Zealand are keen on their first series victory over South Africa and to demonstrate that they can still put together a winning combination despite the absence of Ross Taylor (retired), Kane Williamson (hurt), and Trent Boult (273 Tests) (paternity leave).
South Africa are desperate to improve their global ranking (fifth) and their World Test Championship status, with the possibility of moving up to second if they win both Tests.
On Wednesday, New Zealand captain Tom Latham and his South African rival Dean Elgar talked about the lush Hagley Oval’s reputation as a place where you can bowl first.
First time South Africa has played on the Christchurch ground, which will host both Tests of the series.
On a track that always seems to favour their swing and seam attack, New Zealand has an impressive record of seven victories, one loss, and one tie.
“It provides an opportunity for batsmen to make runs, but it also provides opportunities for bowlers with some speed and bounce and some help off the wicket,” New Zealand captain Latham said.
“We’ve played some very terrific cricket at home for a long period of time now, and I’m certain that if we can adjust to the wicket and the surface, we’ll give ourselves a decent opportunity of winning.”
New Zealand entered the Test on a high after an innings and eight wicket victory over Bangladesh on the same field a month ago, and Latham claimed they have been concentrating on their terrible record against South Africa, whom they have defeated only four times in 45 Tests.
South Africa has done a lot of preparation for the Hagley Oval, even down to figuring out the best time to score runs.
At times, when you see green grass, you might get carried away. You may underperform in terms of ability, line, and length if you believe the grass will take care of everything, “Elgar said.
From a batting perspective, we need to be really strong in defence and depart, and we need to build up our batting innings in order to get runs later in the afternoon.
“From what I’ve seen in the nets we’ve had, the rivalry between bat and ball has been rather excellent.“
Like New Zealand, South Africa are missing significant players in Keegan Petersen (Covid-19) and Anrich Nortje (injured).
Elgar said that Sarel Erwee, batting at number three for his Test debut, is in a position to replace Petersen, and that they have six fast bowlers in their squad to provide ample insurance for Nortje, with Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Marco Jansen expected to lead the attack.