Williamson leads Kiwis' fightback in Dunedin Test

Skipper Kane Williamson produced a calm and composed performance as he struck a half-century to lead New Zealand's fight back on Day Two of the opening Test against South Africa at University Oval here on Thursday.

At stumps, New Zealand were at 177-3, with Williamson (unbeaten at 78) and Jeetan Patel (nine) remained unbeaten at the crease. The home side are still trailing by 131 runs from the first innings.

Williamson, who struck 11 boundaries in his crucial knock, also shared a 102-run partnership with Jeet Raval (58) for the second wicket.

Earlier, resuming at yesterday's score of 229-4, Dean Elgar struck 24 boundaries in his blistering 140-run knock besides sharing a huge stand of 104 runs with Temba Bavuma (64) for the fifth wicket to guide South Africa to a first-innings total of 308.

On Day 2, Elgar had also shared a 126-run partnership, which is the highest stand so far in the match, with Faf du Plessis (52) for the fourth wicket.

For New Zealand, Trent Boult was the pick of the bowlers for his figures of four for 64.

Neil Wagner also bagged three wickets while Jeetan Patel and James Neesham also chipped in with two and a wicket, respectively.