Cape Town - The Proteas' notorious slow starts to Test series could prove to be their Achilles Heel in New Zealand after another chastening opening day in Christchurch on Thursday.
Mark Boucher's team slumped to the Proteas' lowest score in 90 year batting first with Matt Henry's 7/23 routing the visitors for just 95 in 50.2 overs.
This disastrous effort followed a similar poor beginning to the Indian home series earlier this year. The blame lay with the bowlers on that occasion at SuperSport Park, where they struggled to find a consistent line or length.
It allowed the Indian batters to get away on what should have been a tricky surface with KL Rahul's century pushing the visitors to a commanding 272/3 that formed the platform for Virat Kohli’s team to take a 1-0 series lead.
Lack of match practice and game time were the reasons provided then, and South Africa's bowlers duly improved the longer the series wore on with the Proteas fighting back to win 2-1.
However, the New Zealand series is just two matches short and South Africa are already trailing by 21 runs on the first innings with seven Black Caps wickets still intact, SA will now face an almighty struggle to claw their way back into the contest at Hagley Oval. Four dropped catches in the afternoon certainly did not help their cause either.
The elongated time spent in Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) under the New Zealand government's Covid-19 regulations during the build-up could possibly have played a role in the batters' failure to adapt to the conditions.
🆕 Erwee and Stuurman handed Test debuts
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) February 17, 2022
🔙 Hamza returns
🔝 Henry rips through the Proteas with career-best 7-23
❌ South Africa all out for 95
☝ 13 wickets fall on day 1
The Black Caps close on 116-3 at stumps of day 1 with a lead of 21 runs. Report and highlights 👇#NZvSA
However, the Proteas had access to training and net facilities for the last four of the 10 days in MIQ. Fast bowler Duanne Olivier was therefore not hiding from the facts and that the issue had actually been noted prior to the start of the series.
“We did discuss starting slowly - it’s important because it is only a two-match Test series,” said Olivier. “Our intent and game plan was right. I think on the day our execution... and fair play to Henry... those things can happen.
"In terms of preparation we ticked every box. Sometimes it just happens, and you don't understand why, but it’s about how you bounce back. As South Africans we have done it many times."
The Proteas will certainly need to dig deep on Friday and show off their famed “bounce back ability" if there are to gain any sort of parity in this first Test.