Henry Nicholls chose an opportune moment to reach his maiden test century as he led a concerted New Zealand fightback Thursday on the first day of the second test against South Africa.
The left-hander went to the wicket with New Zealand at 21-3 and guided the hosts to 217-6 before he was out for 118. With his steady contribution, B.J. Watling's 34 and Jeet Raval's 36, New Zealand reached 268 before being dismissed in the 79th over. JP Duminy's career-best 4-47 gave South Africa the upper hand at that point but the first day had one last twist when South Africa lost both openers, Stephen Cook (3) and Dean Elgar (9) to end the day at 24-2. Both batsman were caught at second slip by James Neesham - Cook from the bowling of Tim Southee (1-18) and Elgar from Colin de Grandhomme, who unexpectedly shared the new ball and returned 1-2 from three overs.
Nightwatchman Kagiso Rabada was 8 not out at stumps and Hashim Amla on 0.
Nicholls had a near miss three innings ago when he was out for 98 against Bangladesh but discarded any residual baggage from that innings to reach a century from 150 balls. He first helped Raval steady the innings in a 52-run partnership which lifted his team to 73-3 before Raval was out to the last ball before lunch. He then had a 116-run sixth-wicket partnership with BJ Watling.