Proteas red-ball coach Shukri Conrad
Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
In a way, the worst thing about South Africa’s makeshift Test side being upended by New Zealand in the opening rubber of their two-match series was the fact that it panned out just as expected.
In the intervening months since Cricket South Africa (CSA) telegraphed that they couldn’t spare their best players for the tour of New Zealand because they needed them to prop up their T20 League baby, the SA20, hope had sprung eternal that the patchwork squad assembled for the misadventure could shock friend and foe alike by beating the Black Caps and maintaining the Proteas’ record of never having lost to them.
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