The Blackcaps did what needed to be done against a Zimbabwean team who still appear to be floating in Test cricket's wilderness. This didn't mean that two Test victories came easy as there was plenty of graft needed from the batsmen and bowlers who didn't exactly enjoy favourable conditions, this was a case of simply doing the job.

Everyone kinda knew that the Zim leg of the African Tour was the calm before the storm, with the storm being the two Test series against South Africa. The first of those Tests gets underway tomorrow night NZT in Durban and this South African team that lacks AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel presents an interesting challenge to our lads.

South Africa have suffered a bit of a slump in recent times, however even without those two veterans and world-class players, they still have Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and Kagiso Rabada along with a handy group of job-doers. Both Steyn and Philander are coming back into the SA side after injury lay-offs and they will form a strong pace attack with Rabada - who is one of the most promising quick bowlers in the world. Forget about the loss of Morkel, there's still firepower in the SA bowling group.

Du Plessis and Amla are the big guns of the batting line up and the kiwis will count them as key wickets. Stephen Cook is an experienced domestic player who recently got the call up as a Test opener, Dean Elgar also has plenty of experience while Temba Bavuma and Stiaan van Zyl are the next wave of SA batsmen. Throw in de Kock - the best young wicket-keeper in the world - and that's SA's batting group who the kiwis will think is ripe for the picking, perhaps lacking a bit of depth.

Dane Piedt looks likely to be the go-to spinner and his offies could be crucial on a Durban pitch that may favour the spinners more than the seamers. Duminy could also roll his arm over.

There's no reason why the Blackcaps won't roll out the same team that performed well in Zimbabwe, with the only minor change possibly being the inclusion of Matt Henry or Doug Bracewell if SA's winter livens up the pitch. Don't expect that though, which gives us one heck of a battle between Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Philander, Steyn and Rabada; six bowlers who can genuinely consider themselves to be among the world's best on any given day.

It's not as if Philander and Steyn are coming in hot though as they haven't quite been on the field enough recently. Steyn has dipped away a wee bit in his production and this could open the door for Southee and Boult to make their mark ... or Steyn and Philander could remind us all about their skills as strike bowlers.

Ish Sodhi will be key, with Mitchell Santner likely to keep things tight while Sodhi looks to take wickets. We saw in Zim that these two have taken another step forward after the World T20 tournament and this is another step forward for the taking, if they are able to contribute against better batsmen. It's the same story with these two as they simply need to serve up six balls that don't allow the likes of Amla, the ability to score freely and build pressure, then set 'em up and send 'em back to the sheds. Obviously Amla's a freak, but that's the sort of challenge that we need to see Santner and Sodhi take on.

I see the two batting line ups rubbing each other out. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are our Amla and du Plessis, while the likes of Martin Guptill, Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls are similar to Cook, Bavuma, Elgar and van Zyl. This means that the bowlers hold the key for me and which pace attack gets the upper hand will decide this game, plus the battle of the spinners will be super intriguing. Both batting groups are solid, about as solid as any Test team in the world, so which bowling attack can showcase their Test cricket patience with the ball will be where the funk sits.

The Blackcaps are a team on the up, yet they haven't quite faced a challenge like a few Tests in SA just yet. This definitely isn't the same SA team that was on top of the Test cricket world recently, this is a SA team that has dropped back to the pack and how SA play with Philander and Steyn back leading their bowling attack will be equally as interesting as anything from a kiwi perspective.

I'm most interested in how our Blackcaps bowlers go about dismantling SA's batsmen. Southee and Boult haven't quite been at their world-beating best, Wagner's shown what he can do against weaker batting line ups and our young spinners are young spinners who are still learning their craft. This is a great match up for our bowling attack, not only pitted against SA's batsmen but also against their bowlers as both sets of bowlers are fairly evenly matched.

And of course, another opportunity to see Kane Williamson captain this team once again. I'm loving the Williamson x Taylor leadership tandem and on top of the intrigue with how our bowlers go, how Williamson juggles them and gets the most out of them will also be interesting. I just love Kaptain Kane, The Prince, so any chance we get to see him do his thing is lovely.