South Africa captain Graeme Smith pulls one en route to his 88 in Auckland on Thursday

Auckland: South Africa dominated the opening day’s play of the second Test against New Zealand on Thursday, scoring 231 for two at stumps after building on a strong opening partnership.

Put in to bat by New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, Graeme Smith (88) and Herschelle Gibbs (80) piled on 177 for the first wicket before both were dismissed either side of the tea interval.

“That toss could have been one I would have liked to have lost,” Fleming said.

“There’s been a couple of times this summer that pitches have fooled a lot of people, but today we honestly thought we’d get a window of opportunity by bowling first.

The unbeaten batsmen are Jacques Kallis (39), looking for his sixth century in as many Tests, and Jacques Rudolph (14).

First to go was Gibbs, bowled by a Chris Cairns delivery which was the final ball of the afternoon session, before Smith followed when he was trapped by Chris Martin with the first delivery after the break. Cairns has 199 Test victims while Smith, was left one run shy of 2,000 in just his 23rd match.

(REUTERS)