New Zealand's Blackcaps offered professional Test cricket mahi to defeat South Africa and have snuck into the top spot for the 2023/25 World Test Championship. The opposition was a factor here and no kiwi will be celebrating the momentous achievement of Test victory at Bay Oval, yet the Blackcaps showcased their skills and Test craft in a comprehensive performance that snuffed out any hint of an upset.

A draw would have been an upset type of result in this Test, so winning with a day to spare was a best case scenario. The batting was led by two centuries from Kane Williamson. The first was tricky as he battled his home deck and accurate SA bowling, while playing a supporting role to Rachin Ravindra as he cruised to his double-century. Williamson's second century was quicker, doubling his strike-rate (40.8sr vs 82.5sr) and finishing with 109 of the 179 runs scored by Aotearoa.

Ravindra oozed class as he tends to do in big moments. Not only did he hit 240 runs in the first innings, Ravindra was the only batter in the top-five who had a strike-rate over 50 (65.6) and his ability to absorb pressure then carve out boundaries makes for a snug fit behind Williamson in the line up.

Lots of Blackcaps stats are below these paragraphs, including the ongoing and pesky struggles of openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway. Not enforcing the follow on allowed the Blackcaps bowlers time to recover as well as giving Latham and Conway another crack as they seek run-scoring form. Both batters were dismissed early and after starts in this Test..

• Tom Latham: 20 runs off 48 balls | 3 runs off 13 balls

• Devon Conway: 1 runs off 2 balls | 29 runs off 68 balls

As evident below, Latham stinks at Bay Oval and he's really good at Seddon Park. That along with his veteran mana should see him score some runs, while Conway is the most fascinating bloke in this squad. As noted around the Blackcaps T20 stuff vs Pakistan, Conway's slump stretches across formats as he didn't fire against Pakistan and also struggled for ODI runs after a big hundy to open the World Cup - Ravindra kept scoring runs, Conway didn't.

Conway had a solid Super Smash knock of 23 runs @ 100sr before this Test in the elimination final loss to Canterbury. That knock wasn't crispy Conway though. Cole McConchie slid an offie past Conway's inside edge to skittle the stumps, something that feels notable considering that Conway was dismissed lbw by Tshepo Moreki with a delivery that zipped past his inside edge. With Conway waving his willow outside off-stump, he is vulnerable on both edges; being vulnerable on the inside edge offers multiple dismissals.

Even when Conway scored 29 runs in the second dig, it wasn't fluid and his only boundary was a six that came as NZ was pushing the innings along. The 2023/25 WTC Batting Strike-Rate rankings highlights how Conway has the lowest strike-rate of notable Blackcaps batters and his Test Batting By Year highlights how this has decreased with each year.

At his best, Conway is a delightful stroke-player who is the perfect bloke to bat between Latham and Williamson. Right now, Conway isn't scoring runs and it's hard mahi for any runs he does score. This isn't anything new in the Test cricket arena. Opponents do their research, target weaknesses and Conway must now respond, especially as the second Test vs SA will soon be followed by a greater challenge of Australia's Test seamers.

Conway and Kyle Jamieson are players who can propel the Blackcaps Test team into the upper echelon. Conway's having a slump and Jamieson's return to Test cricket in Aotearoa saw him continue his emergence as a Test bowling legend. Jamieson is the only New Zealand Test bowler who has taken 20+ wickets and averages below 20, with a better average than Shane Bond and Sir Richard Hadlee. Jamieson’s Test bowling average of 19.73 is in a similar zone to his First-Class average of 22.2 - both of which are fantastic.

Jamieson showed his versatility in taking 2w @ 2.3rpo and 4w @ 3.4rpo vs South Africa. The always-impressive hooping in-swingers to righties were on display, as were the deliveries that held their line without swing. Jamieson had no issues switching to sustained short stuff either and it's impressive for a bloke as big as Jamieson to be doing a hearty Neil Wagner impersonation.

Wagner's short stuff is tricky because he is shorter and picking up the length/bounce hasn't been easy for Test batters. Jamieson's much taller but it's the same challenge because of the lengths he can bowl while still sending deliveries past shoulders. Add in Jamieson scooting across the turf and diving to try stop boundaries; he's as tall as a Kauri tree and he moves better than most seam bowlers.

Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry also took a few wickets. Santner now has two good Test appearances this summer after playing the second Test in Bangladesh and two different stat breakdowns are below for Santner. One is a before and after 2020, while the other shows how Santner's solid in NZ as a Test spinner. Another spin thing is how Glenn Phillips and Ravindra are competing for overs which should bring out the best in them (Phillips also has a punchy batting strike-rate).

Henry is doing a decent job of filling the Trent Boult void. The funky thing is that Henry's stats after Boult dipped out of the mix are similar to Boult's career stats and while this isn't a perfect comparison, the fact that Henry is even close shows how useful he is.

There are a few different combinations that could be rolled out for the second Test. Daryl Mitchell won't be playing as he's battling injury and this could open a spot for Will Young. Will O'Rourke will join the squad and while it would be fun to see big WOR in action, he's probably still behind Wagner in the Test stable.

Wagner and O'Rourke may be selected together. Phillips could make way as the squad is rotated as well as a seamer like Henry or Jamieson. Santner could be an option to be rested as well, but Seddon Park is his home ground and Blackcaps may not need the extra batting option that Phillips offers. Regardless of how the selections shake out there is capable squad depth in Young, Wagner and O'Rourke who can maintain high standards.

Best Current Blackcaps at Seddon Park

• Kane Williamson: 1,238 runs @ 88avg

• Tom Latham: 576 runs @ 52avg

• Tim Southee: 51w @ 22avg/3rpo

• Neil Wagner: 39w @ 23avg/3.7rpo

• Kyle Jamieson: 4w @ 16avg/2.6rpo

Kyle Jamieson Test Bowling By Year

• 2020: 25w @ 14.44avg/2.26rpo

• 2021: 27w @ 17.51avg/2.51rpo

• 2022: 20w @ 28.35avg/3.16rpo

• 2023: 2w @ 42.5avg/2.5rpo

• 2024: 6w @ 15.5avg/2.9rpo

Lowest Test Bowling Averages For Blackcaps With 20+ Wickets

• Kyle Jamieson: 80w @ 19.73avg

• Jack Cowie: 45w @ 21.53avg

• Shane Bond: 87w @ 22.09avg

• Sir Richard Hadlee: 431w @ 22.29avg

• Bruce Taylor: 111w @ 26.6avg

Matt Henry

• With Boult: 40.24avg/3.24rpo

• Without Boult: 26.95avg/2.8rpo

Mitchell Santner

• Prior to 2020: 39w @ 44.71avg/2.79rpo

• 2020 onwards: 14w @ 24avg/2.49rpo

• In NZ: 34.52avg/2.3rpo

• Overseas: 52.59avg/3.13rpo

Blackcaps Spinners In World Test Championship

• Ajaz Patel: 95.4ov, 14w @ 23.92avg/3.5rpo (1st for wickets)

• Mitchell Santner: 86ov, 12w @ 17.41avg/2.43rpo (2nd for wickets)

• Glenn Phillips: 53ov, 9w @ 17.88avg/3rpo (3rd for wickets)

• Ish Sodhi: 33ov, 3w @ 48.33avg/4.39rpo

• Rachin Ravindra: 16.5ov, 2w @ 17avg/2rpo

Devon Conway

Test Batting By Year

• 2021: 379 runs @ 63.16avg/50sr

• 2022: 649 runs @ 49.92avg/52sr

• 2023: 422 runs @ 32.46avg/48sr

• 2024: 30 runs @ 15avg/42sr

Tom Latham

• Prior to 2020: 42.81avg/46sr

• 2020 onwards: 35.53avg/47sr

• At Bay Oval: 13.22avg/42.34sr

• At Seddon Park: 52.36avg/53.83sr

• In 2023/25 WTC: 12.33vg/38sr

Kane Williamson

• With Tim Southee as skipper: 9 Tests, 80.14avg/53sr, 7 x 100

• In all WTC: 65.67avg/52sr

Rachin Ravindra

• Scores in last 10 games: 108 , 42, 13, 0, 45, 8, 3, 1, 2, 240, 12

Highest Batting Strike-Rates in 23/25 WTC

• Matt Henry: 27 runs @ 300sr

• Glenn Phillips: 220 runs @ 88sr

• Tim Southee: 83 runs @ 80.5sr

• Mitchell Santner: 38 runs @ 69sr

• Rachin Ravindra: 252 runs @ 64.2sr

• Kane Williamson: 366 runs @ 53.19sr

• Daryl Mitchell: 181 runs @ 53.07sr

• Tom Blundell: 30 runs @ 46.1sr

• Kyle Jamieson: 60 runs @ 43.4sr

• Tom Latham: 74 runs @ 38.7sr

• Devon Conway: 77 runs @ 35.8sr

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