A last crack at redemption

South Africa began the series against New Zealand as favourites to win both the one-dayers and the Tests, but little has gone to plan for them since the tour began more than a month ago. Battered in the ODIs and in the second Test at Auckland, South Africa have their last opportunity to salvage the series in the third Test, which starts at Wellington on Friday.

Their batting capitulated at Auckland, but even more worrying for Graeme Smith would be the ineffectiveness of the South African bowling attack: they have managed just 22 wickets in the two Tests, with New Zealand scoring 509 and 595 in their first innings. Another total in that range at Wellington would almost certainly seal the series for them.

Shaun Pollock has been South Africa's most successful bowler with eight wickets, but half those scalps have comprised the Nos. 10 and 11 of the opposition line-up. Makhaya Ntini has struggled to overcome the lack of pace on the pitches, while the support seamers and the spinners have made no impression at all.

Pollock sought to play down these concerns on the eve of the Test. "We obviously aren't as happy as we could be about the bowling, there is no hiding from that, but we aren't happy with our all-round play either," he said. "But we've still got an opportunity to turn it around and we have to focus on that. We know we can get it right and each of us has been there and done that before. You have your patches when it doesn't go according to plan but then again New Zealand, besides [Chris] Martin, haven't really hit their straps as well with big hauls of wickets."

New Zealand, on the other hand, have little to worry about. The bowling attack was thin at Hamilton, but Chris Martin redressed that with a dream performance at Eden Park, consistently swinging and seaming the ball to expose chinks in the South African line-up.

The difference between the two teams, though, has been the lower-order batting. In the first two Tests, New Zealand have converted scores of 223 for 5 and 314 for 5 into 500-plus totals; South Africa have been five down for 281, 240 and 250, and have ended up with 459, 296 and 349. For South Africa, the problems have often begun after they have removed the New Zealand top order.

Meanwhile, Trevor Jackson, the curator at the Basin Reserve, promised a pitch that would offer the seamers far more encouragement than the tracks for the first two matches. The intent, he says, is to produce a surface similar to the one on which Pakistan played the Boxing Day Test last year. That turned out to be an engrossing match, with two sub-200 scores, and with Pakistan ultimately chasing down a fourth-innings target of 274 with plenty to spare. The fast bowlers had lots to celebrate too, taking 29 out of 32 wickets to fall.

The Wellington Test will also mark the end of Gary Kirsten's international career. He suffered a rare twin failure at Auckland, which was also his 100th Test, falling for 1 in each innings. On a pitch which is likely to reward the gritty accumulator more than the flashy strokeplayer, expect Kirsten to make his presence felt.

New Zealand (probable) 1 Mark Richardson, 2 Michael Papps, 3 Stephen Fleming (capt), 4 Scott Styris, 5 Craig McMillan, 6 Chris Cairns, 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Jacob Oram, 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Chris Martin.

South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Gary Kirsten, 6 Neil McKenzie, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Andre Nel, 11 Makhaya Ntini.