Ntini had good support from new ball partner Dale Steyn, who took three for 43, as Kiwis were bowled out shortly before tea.
JOHANNESBURG: Makhaya Ntini ripped through the New Zealand batting as South Africa grabbed a commanding position on the first day of the third and final Test against New Zealand at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday.
Fast bowler Ntini took five for 35 as New Zealand were bowled out for 119 after being sent in to bat. Then captain Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla hit half-centuries as South Africa reached 133 for four at stumps, losing two wickets in fading light shortly before the close.
Ntini had good support from new ball partner Dale Steyn, who took three for 43, as New Zealand were bowled out shortly before tea on a pitch which offered bounce and extravagant seam movement. Smith pressed home his team’s advantage and ended the longest streak of failures in his Test career as he hammered 63 off 64 balls, sharing a second wicket of 98 with Amla.
Smith had gone eight Tests and 15 innings since his previous half-century, against the West Indies in Antigua a year and two days ago. Amla followed up his century in the drawn second Test in Cape Town with an assured 56 before he was out when he spliced a lifting ball from Scott Styris to second slip. New Zealand, needing a win to draw level in the series, made a horror start, losing their first three wickets for two runs.
Captain Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle put on 55 for the fourth wicket but Astle was out eight balls after lunch as the slide resumed. Fleming, who made 262 in the drawn second Test in Cape Town, was dropped by Jacques Kallis at second slip off Steyn when he was on 24 and went on to make top score of 46.
Jacob Oram and James Franklin, who made centuries in the first and second Tests respectively, put on 36 for the eighth wicket before the last three wickets fell for one run. The pitch proved almost impossible for batsmen in the first half hour.
Both opening batsmen were dismissed without scoring before Fleming scored the first runs in the 6th over. Steyn struck with his second ball in the second over of the match when Jamie How edged an out-swinger to AB de Villiers at third slip.
How was playing his first match of the series, replacing Peter Fulton, who had a back injury. Ntini bowled Michael Papps in the fifth over, with Papps playing on to his stumps when the ball bounced and cut back sharply.
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