da bet7k： ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second day in Port Elizabeth
da betsul： Firdose Moonda at St George's Park12-Jan-2013Pain of the day
Again, New Zealand’s bowlers began the day with a bit of oomph, this timethe painful kind. Doug Bracewell was the protagonist again but he wasaiming lower down than yesterday, when he pinged Graeme Smith on the head.His fifth ball of the morning had some extra bounce and nipped back intoFaf du Plessis to hit him on what the ball-by-ball commentary on thesepages described as his “special place.”The agony was immediately evident. Du Plessis crouched down in pain whileBracewell reacted with more toughness than he did with Smith and did noteven offer an apology. A smile crept over Brendon McCullum’s face and onlyafter du Plessis did not return to his feet for a few moments longer thanexpected did Martin Guptill decide to enquire about his health. In thedressing room, Dean Elgar and Jacques Rudolph winced at the replay whileHashim Amla, who was hit by Chris Martin in the same place last March couldonly sympathise from the other side.Contrast of the day
In completely the opposite fashion to the first over of the day, the firstover after lunch was owned by du Plessis. He played five patient oversbefore the break but came out with no more time to wait. He gave JeetanPatel the charge as soon as he was given the strike and launched the ballover long-on to bring up his second Test century and first at home with aflourish. Always one to enjoy the attention, du Plessis saluted the crowdas the band burst into song.Message of the day
When du Plessis was dismissed and the south-easter began blowing a little bit more energetically, South Africa’s declaration seemed imminent. Robin Peterson came out and went down swinging, leaving Elgar on 73. Dale Steyn joined him and after two overs of scratching around, the 12th man came out with a bat that was never handed over and a message. It seemed to say that Elgar would have until tea to get to his century even though he was only on 83 at the time. Elgar responded with a six off the first ball of the over that followed but only managed to add two more singles before the break and was allowed to resume batting after that in the quest for his maiden hundred.Drop of the day
Jacques Kallis very rarely puts down catches and it’s even more scarce thathe puts down such simple ones. Martin Guptill’s horrible series continuedwhen he pushed at Dale Steyn’s fourth ball, with feet rooted to the ground,and got an edge. Kallis only had to collect the ball at knee height and gothands to it but then let it slip out. Steyn only turned and walked away with nothing to say to the most experienced player on the field, Kallispursed his lips in irritation and stood unmoved for a few seconds tocontemplate his mistake. It cost nothing though as Guptill nicked off twoovers later without adding a run.Ball of the day
South Africa’s attack showed no mercy and Rory Kleinveldt took his role asVernon Philander’s replacement seriously. He got swing and seam movementand coaxed the ball into spitting its way through. His nastiest was thedelivery that claimed Dean Brownlie, an unplayable one that straightenedafter pitching off a shortish length. Brownlie tried to jump out of the waybut gloved it to AB de Villiers who took a good catch to deepen NewZealand’s woes.