Sinclair puts New Zealand A in command

South Africa A 79 for 0 (Dippenaar 35*, Puttick 41*) trail New Zealand A 502 for 8 dec (Sinclair 268, Vincent 63, Franklin 63, Fulton 41, Thomas 3-82) by 423 runs
Scorecard

Mathew Sinclair dominated the second day of New Zealand A's third and final four-day match against South Africa A at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom. He scored 268, surpassing his previous-best first-class score of 214, allowing New Zealand A to declare at 502 for 8.

Sinclair started the day on 149 and continued where he had left off the previous evening. He played some classic cover-drives and showed plenty of aggression before being clean bowled by Alfonso Thomas. His vigil lasted nearly ten hours, during which time he struck 35 fours and two sixes.

He was well supported by James Franklin, who scored a patient 63, making good use of the life given to him by Hashim Amla when he had 36. Franklin put together 152 with Sinclair before being caught at mid-on after failing to get on top of an on-drive. The second 150-plus partnership of the match placed New Zealand in an extremely strong position.

Gareth Hopkins became the fourth lbw victim of the innings when he was trapped in front by Thomas for 22. He had done his bit, adding 50 with Sinclair. With tea approaching, Paul Wiseman had a quick flurry with the bat, taking 16 runs off a Garnett Kruger over before being caught on the boundary for 18 attempting another big hit.

Relief eventually came for South Africa when Matthew Bell declared at 502 for 8 during the tea break. The South African bowlers had struggled hard throughout, with three wickets for Thomas and two for Kruger.

The New Zealand bowlers found the going just as difficult as Andrew Puttick and Boeta Dippenaar set about creating a solid platform. When bad light stopped play with 7.4 overs remaining, South Africa had moved to 79 without loss with Puttick on 41 and Dippenaar on 35.