Blundell keeps NZ alive but SA remove Conway before lunch

South Africa are five wickets away from squaring the series and will bowl a minimum of 62 more overs

Lunch New Zealand 293 & 180 for 5 (Blundell 44*, de Grandhomme 10*) need another 246 runs South Africa 364 & 354 for 9 by 246 runs

Sipamla, bowling his 12th over of the innings and wicketless up to that point, bowled a full delivery that beat Conway’s attempted flick and struck him in line with leg stump. He was given out on-field and reviewed but ball-tracking showed Sipamla would have gone on to hit leg stump.

It was reward for Sipamla’s lengths which were fuller than the rest of the attack’s, and almost brought another in the same over. He had an appeal against first-innings centurion Colin de Grandhomme with a delivery that angled in from wide of the crease but Dean Elgar chose not to review. Replays showed that one was missing.

New Zealand started the morning positively as Conway and Blundell scored 33 runs in the first eight overs of the day. Conway, dropped on 5 on the fourth day and resuming on 60 on the final morning, dabbed Rabada wide of gully for four before Blundell hit boundaries off back-of-a-length and full Jansen deliveries. South Africa went to their default, the short ball, and Conway pulled Rabada while Blundell tucked Jansen away fine and the runs kept coming.

Wiaan Mulder was brought on as the first change of the day and, with Rabada at the other end, dried up the boundaries. The pair bowled six overs in tandem without New Zealand breaching the rope before Blundell got one away when he ran Mulder down to third man. Keshav Maharaj then replaced Rabada and thought he had Conway out lbw when the batter missed a reverse-sweep and Elgar reviewed but the bounce in the surface meant the ball was going over the stumps.

Conway was dismissed in the next over and left to Blundell and de Grandhomme to take New Zealand to lunch. They did so despite pressure from men around the bat. South Africa are five wickets away from squaring the series and will bowl a minimum of 62 more overs.