Martin v Smith and other key battles

Chris Martin v left-handers

From Philip Hughes to Junaid Siddique, southpaws around the world have tried and failed to negotiate Martin's delivery that moves across them and have ended up caught behind or in the slips. Since the beginning of 2007, Martin averages 25.58 against left-hand batsmen (46 wickets) and 36.19 against right-hand batsmen (66 wickets). He has been labelled as the "bane of the left-handers" in the New Zealand media, and South Africa's three left-handers would be aware of the threat he poses. Of Graeme Smith, JP Duminy and Jacques Rudolph, at least of two of them, Smith and Rudolph, are certain to play. Smith has been dismissed by Martin six times. That makes Smith the batsman Martin has dismissed the most often in Test cricket and gives Martin an even better record against him than Zaheer Khan, who has also dismissed Smith six times but from two more Tests. Martin also has his best record against South Africa, with 44 wickets, the most he has taken against any opposition team.

Vernon Philander v Martin Guptill

Two of the best performing and most aggressive players over the past three months stand in each other's way of continuing in that vein. Guptill will take first guard against Philander and the new ball, well aware of the bowler's big reputation. Philander has had extraordinary success in the four Tests he has played with 30 wickets, including four five-wicket hauls at home. He has expressed confidence that his fourth stump line and nagging length will work anywhere in the world and this will be his first chance to prove it, against an opening batsman who brims with almost as much self-belief. Guptill's 2011-12 season appeared to be more run-laden than the New Zealand air is with rain and he entered the series against South Africa having scored five consecutive half-centuries across all formats. He extended it to six before his run was cut short and with technically picture-book approach and commitment to Test cricket (having spurned the IPL), will want to restart it in the Tests.

Both are leaders, both can dictate passages of play and both will want to have a deciding say in the Test series. Vettori has given up shorter formats of the game to concentrate on Test cricket and said his decisions should have many spin-offs. He has just come off a run in four-day cricket, brings a fresh mindset to a squad that has been soundly beaten in the shorter formats and considers himself something of a "surprise element" on this tour so far. While Vettori believes a break from limited-overs cricket will lift his Test game, it's the exact opposite for de Villiers. Taking over the captaincy of South Africa's Twenty20 an ODI team has ignited de Villiers' batting. His 160 against Sri Lanka was peppered with some of the most audacious strokes in the game and his habit of lifting the run-rate in the middle order could present an interesting cat-and-mouse battle with Vettori, who will want to tie him down.

Martin labelled the series the "battle of the swing bowlers," so the rivalry between the world's best bowler and the man South Africa's bowling coach Allan Donald said could become the best swing bowler in the world should be its headline act. Steyn can swing it even when there is no assistance and with the promise of moist air and overhead cloud he will be making the ball dance to his tune. Southee has Donald's blessing and a heap of promise behind him and is starting to build the record to back that up. He has also proved he has the right kind of aggression and even chose to have a few words with Richard Levi while the opener was carving him up in Wellington. The time has come for him to back up the talk with action in the one of the biggest series of his career so far.

When New Zealand and South Africa compete, the battle between bat and ball is secondary to the mental one. New Zealand are shrewd and street smart and have previously found way to say things that make South Africa doubt themselves. They've been able to out-think them in crucial matches in a Champions Trophy and a World Cup, not through superior skills on the field but with crafty exchanges to create uncertainty and build anxiety in an opposition that has traditionally melted in the heat. But South Africa have made progress with pressure on this trip, winning the deciding Twenty20 from an almost impossible position and clean sweeping New Zealand in the ODIs. With each victory South Africa have asserted more dominance and found easier ways to beat New Zealand. de Villiers said the effects of New Zealand's intensity and aggression New Zealand have dwindled as results have piled up in South Africa's favour. Whether New Zealand can find that cutting edge again in the Tests or South Africa can keep them at bay may well to prove to be the most intriguing challenge of the series.