South Africa captain Graeme Smith said on Wednesday that he was comfortable with television referrals and the umpire decision review system (DRS) playing a larger role in international cricket, despite recent criticism of the technology.

South Africa’s recent series in New Zealand was marred by criticism of the DRS, with the ball-tracking, hot-spot and Snicko components coming up with results that were seemingly at odds with what was seen live.

England, meanwhile, have been struggling to adapt to the system in tests against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, their crease-bound batsmen falling to record numbers of leg-before-wicket decisions via DRS.

“I did read a report that there were issues with the set-up of the cameras, which obviously isn’t ideal, and there has been a lot of skepticism about the last bit of the ball-tracking. But DRS has become an integral part of the game, it’s great for the fans and I can’t imagine playing without it,” Smith told a news conference at Johannesburg International Airport on Wednesday.

“It was designed to take away the shocking decision and it’s done that. I’d like to see it play a prominent part in international cricket,” Smith added.

South Africa won both the T20 and one-day international portions of their tour to New Zealand, before dominating the test series but being restricted to a 1-0 win due to bad weather. Smith said the results made him confident that his team could beat both England and Australia on their home turf later this year.

“I definitely think we can beat both England and Australia away. We have a lot of the same players who did it in 2008/9, but we have an extra edge now in terms of the way we think about the way we play and train, plus there’s the addition of players like Vernon Philander, Marchant de Lange and Lopsy Tsotsobe.

“But we know those two teams play very well at home and you’ve got to handle the pressure of big crowds and the media being against you. England will have played a lot of competitive cricket by the time we get there and it’s a tough place to win. So it’s a very big tour for us, but we’ve crossed that hurdle before and we know we can do it,” Smith said.

The burly left-hander led South Africa to a 2-1 series win in England in 2008 before they won the first two tests of their three-match series in Australia later that year.

Smith said that, while on tour for six weeks in New Zealand, the team had grown more accustomed to the leadership of former India coach Gary Kirsten, who took over as coach of his own country’s national team last June.

“The players were able to grow relationships and styles and how they fit into the environment and the work ethic. They were all able to find their place in the squad and Gary and his management team offered us everything possible for success,” Smith said.

It was a sentiment shared by Kirsten.

“It’s more important what the players learnt from me. It was nice to be on tour, a long way from home, and to connect well as a team. We have lofty standards as a team and I thought we made great progress. The tour taught us about our strengths and capabilities,” Kirsten said.

The former opening batsman singled out the bowling attack, which struck fear into the hearts of the Kiwis: ” I thought the bowling unit was outstanding, they bowled with real intensity and proved that they are a world-class attack. And the batting got better through the tour as well ,” Kirsten said.

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Centuries by veterans Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis were the foundation of South Africa’s commanding 268 for three on the third day of the first test against New Zealand in Dunedin on Friday.

Smith, a celebrated member of the gritty left-hander’s club, fought his way to 115, his 24th test century and a wonderful display of determination and his own highly-effective version of skill.

Kallis was still at the crease when stumps was called, having stroked his way to 107 not out. Together, the pair had added 200 for the third wicket in five hours and given South Africa a commanding lead of 233 runs with seven wickets in hand.

Smith was out eight overs before the close, when his previously sure judgement deserted him against the second new ball and he inside-edged Doug Bracewell back into his stumps.

Kallis notched his 42nd test century in the next over, needing 219 deliveries, 18 more than Smith, and he batted through to stumps and will lead South Africa’s efforts to set a target on the fourth day. On a pitch that is still good for batting, the visitors will be wanting some sort of insurance in the form of a target that allows them to keep fielders in attacking positions.

South Africa had begun their second innings trailing by 35 runs and were in trouble on 47 for two when Smith and Kallis came together. The runs would come at a measured rate as they built a crucial partnership, refusing to chase the many deliveries New Zealand tried to tempt them with well outside off stump.

The admirable Bracewell, who finished the day with three for 53 in 18 overs, had made the double strike at the top of the order by removing Alviro Petersen (25) and Hashim Amla (2) in the 12th over.

Petersen was driving at the ball with reckless abandon, but his good fortune was only on loan until he shovelled a full ball from Bracewell to Tim Southee at mid-off.

Amla fell to an outstanding catch by Martin Guptill, plucking the ball millimetres off the turf as he dived one-handed to his right at second slip, but New Zealand would have to wait a long time for their next wicket.

There were no frills to Smith’s innings, but he forced New Zealand to bowl where he wanted them to, the Black Caps seemingly having no alternative to their plan of bowling wide of off-stump to the beefy left-hander.

Kallis was coming off a duck and had a tricky start, but batted with an immense calm, stroking the ball to the boundary on 15 occasions and to all corners of the University Oval.

Trent Boult had begun the day by hammering Vernon Philander for 22 runs – three sixes and a four – from the last four balls of the second over to finish on 33 not out and give New Zealand a first-innings lead they could only have dreamed about on 135 for five shortly before tea on the second day.

The brilliance of Smith and Kallis has now consigned that awful start to the day to distant memory.

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South Africa took control with both Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis going to centuries as they reached 268 for three at stumps on the third day of the first test against New Zealand in Dunedin on Friday.

88th over – Jacques Rudolph has looked in great nick in going to 12 but has a reprieve when Doug Bracewell swings a delivery back into the left-hander and traps him lbw, umpire Aleem Dar giving him out. Rudolph, seemingly more in hope than anything else, calls for the review and Hawkeye says the ball pitched outside leg stump, by an inch or two. Dar cannot believe it, shaking his head as he recalls Rudolph. Will the umpire be fined for dissent? In his defence, there was something dodgy about that Hawkeye replay …

85th over – Lovely placement from Rudolph as he strokes Chris Martin through the covers for four.

83rd over – Kallis has his 42nd test century as he pushes Martin into the covers for a quick single, getting five runs as the shy at the stumps hits his legs and runs away to the boundary. The great Kallis has batted for just over five hours and faced 219 balls, stroking 15 fours in a wonderful innings for his team.

82nd over – WICKET – Bracewell strikes with his first delivery with the second new ball! He pitches the ball on the stumps, from over the wicket, angling across Smith, who inside-edges an awkward push right across the ball. Now if New Zealand had only stuck to that line earlier! Nevertheless, Smith’s 115 off 234 balls in just over six hours is a fitting reward for his determination and skill. Rudolph surprisingly comes in ahead of AB de Villiers, perhaps to keep the left-hand/right-hand combination going, and is off the mark second ball with a superb push off the back foot, through the covers for four.

81st over – Martin returns with the second new ball, but Kallis stands tall and whips the ball off his pads for an imperious four through midwicket that takes him to 99.

80th over – A wide half-volley from Daniel Vettori drifts further away from Smith, but he creams it through the covers for four.

77th over – Kallis has been stuck on 90 for 17 balls but then unveils a glorious cover-drive for four off Tim Southee.

71st over – Smith steps down the pitch and works the probing left-arm spin of Vettori through the packed leg-side field for a single that brings up his 24th test century! Coming off 201 balls, in five-and-a-quarter hours, it’s a fitting reward for a magnificent effort by the captain. How can anyone not want him in the team?

70th over – Too full from Southee and Kallis crunches the ball through the despairing dive of mid-off running to his left for four more runs. Kallis collects his second boundary of the over as he square-drives the seamer, Trent Boult trying hard to stop the ball on the deep backward point fence, but just failing.

64th over – Sweet timing from Smith as he strokes left-armer Boult through the covers for four.

63rd over – Smith jumps all over a short ball from Doug Bracewell, pulling with tremendous power to midwicket for four.

60th over – Masterful from Kallis as Boult drops a fraction short and the great batsman sends a short-arm pull rocketing to the midwicket boundary.

59th over – Bracewell is wide outside off stump to Smith and the left-hander lashes the ball through gully for four.

57th over – Kallis leaves the first four balls after tea alone as they travel harmlessly by outside off stump. So Bracewell tries to bowl straighter, drifts on to the pads and is tucked away for four to fine leg by Kallis. A great example of how the two batsmen have forced the New Zealand bowlers to bowl where they want them to …

55th over – Too full from Chris Martin and Smith works the ball through midwicket with great timing for four.

52nd over – Part-time off-spinner Rob Nicol is on, but he bowls a long-hop which Smith smashes through extra cover for four.

49th over – The 150 is up with a superb shot by Kallis, stroking Tim Southee straight down the ground for four. Kallis collects another boundary two balls later as he drives smoothly through a sloppy fielding effort at mid-on by Martin.

46th over – Kallis completes his 56th half-century as he goes back and turns left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori for a single to fine leg. Kallis reaches the landmark in 147 minutes, off 106 balls, with seven fours.

41st over – Successive bouncers from Tim Southee … and successive hooks for four in the most emphatic fashion by Kallis.

40th over – A bit edgy from Smith as he slashes Trent Boult through the gully for four. Smith ends the over with a superb shot, striding forward and driving the left-arm seamer from outside off stump and through mid-on for four more.

36th over – Another excellent effort by Smith as he completes his second half-century of the match, with a trademark push off his pads for a single to backward square-leg off Doug Bracewell. Smith has dug in for 163 minutes, faced 107 balls and hit five fours.

35th over – A bouncer from Martin angling across Smith, but he deals with it comfortably, fetching the ball from outside off stump and pulling it through wide mid-on for four.

34th over – And now the hundred is up as Smith drives Bracewell confidently through extra cover for four.

33rd over – The fifty partnership is up as Kallis drives Martin imperiously through the covers for four.

32nd over – A good start for Smith after lunch as he chops Bracewell neatly through backward point for four.

26th over – Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori strays a little bit leg-side and is swept powerfully for four by Kallis.

23rd over – Tim Southee digs the ball in, but it doesn’t get up and Kallis plays a beautifully-controlled pull shot, with excellent placement between the two men back on the boundary and his second boundary.

19th over – Kallis, on a pair, has taken a while to get settled, but collects four runs with a superb back-foot square-drive, beautifully timed, off Trent Boult.

12th over – A double strike by Doug Bracewell in his second over rocks South Africa! WICKET – A dreadfully loose innings by Alviro Petersen comes to an end. The opener has been playing a series of expansive, risky drives and, having driven the first ball of the over just over cover, Petersen then shovels a full ball too mid-off, where Southee moves sharply to take the catch. Petersen is out for 25. Hashim Amla collects a couple of runs through midwicket but is out to the last ball of the over. WICKET – Amla pushes firmly at a good ball from Bracewell that shapes away, Martin Guptill taking an outstanding catch, plucking the ball low off the ground as he dived one-handed to his right at second slip. Amla stuck around, but the third umpire did not give him the benefit of the doubt.

10th over – Smith puts South Africa in the black in marvellous fashion as Bracewell over-pitches and the left-hander punches him straight down the ground for four runs, erasing the 35-run first-innings deficit.

9th over – Petersen edges a slash at Chris Martin, it flies high to second slip, where Martin Guptill doesn’t pick the ball up at all. It flies over his head for four.

5th over – Full and outside off stump from Martin and Petersen drives it beautifully through the covers for four.

4th over – Left-armer Boult straightens a ball back between Petersen’s bat and pad, the ball flicking his back leg before being taken by a diving Kruger van Wyk. New Zealand are insistent that Petersen’s out and unsuccessfully attempt to overturn Aleem Dar’s not out decision.

2nd over – Boult gets a touch too straight and full to Smith and is driven through mid-on for four.

1st over – Petersen survives a very tight lbw call as Martin jags a delivery back into him, but then punches the veteran seamer sweetly down the ground for four.

The astonishing hitting of Trent Boult boosted the New Zealand innings to 273 all out on the third day of the first test against South Africa at the University Oval in Dunedin on Friday.

89th over – Dale Steyn ends the fun as Chris Martin prods a shortish delivery straight to Hashim Amla at short-leg.

88th over – Vernon Philander looks un-warmed up and stiff, is down in pace and pays the price as Boult lashes 22 vital runs off the last four balls of the over. Having turned down an easy single to deep point, Boult clears the front leg and slogs Philander for six over long-on, four over mid-off and six over midwicket. Philander’s last ball of the over is a bouncer and Boult is outside leg-stump, but he manages to hook it for another six!

87th over – Five runs for Martin, which is like 50 for him! He pushes Steyn’s second ball of the day into the covers in an effort to get off strike, Amla rushes in, but slips as he shies at the bowler’s end, missing the stumps and leading to four overthrows.

South Africa wasted a sure start in tricky conditions to slump to 191 for seven at stumps on the first day of the first test against New Zealand at the University Oval in Dunedin on Wednesday.

Too many of the South African batsmen rinsed their hands of the responsibility of batting all day – on a shortened day of 59 overs – instead settling for all-too-brief displays of authority that did not wrest the advantage away from a New Zealand side that was typically determined and astute.

Captain Graeme Smith dominated the first session after South Africa had lost the toss and been sent in to bat two hours before tea, rain having washed out the entire morning session, and had reached tea on 53 not out from just 69 balls.

The left-hander profited from some confused lines of attack from the New Zealand bowlers, but his team never recovered from the rash shot he played in the first over after the break as the home side claimed six wickets from 33 overs to end the day in charge.

Trent Boult, the left-arm seamer, had claimed the first wicket of the day when he trapped Alviro Petersen lbw for 11, but it was the only success for New Zealand in a mediocre first session that saw Smith and Hashim Amla take their team through to the interval on 86 for one.

The drama started almost immediately after the break as Chris Martin claimed three wickets in four balls to send South Africa crashing to 90 for four.

Smith was the first to fall, failing to add to his score at tea. Martin beat Smith with a couple of fine away-swingers outside off stump and then, when he dished up a wide half-volley, Smith’s instinctive reaction was to lash out and try and impose himself again.

But the ball was so wide and going further away that Smith could not hit it cleanly, instead offering a straightforward catch to Rob Nicol at a shortish cover.

Martin began his next over in brilliant fashion as he whistled a delivery on to the shoulder of a squared-up Jacques Kallis’s bat, Ross Taylor diving to his left at first slip to take a sharp catch as the ball flew between him and wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk.

Kallis being dismissed for a duck should have caused some alarm in the complacent South African camp, but AB de Villiers was slow to react to his first delivery, not moving his feet and playing all around a delivery that jagged back into him from Martin.

Unfortunately for New Zealand, while Amla and Jacques Rudolph were battling to see off Martin at the one end, they made merry against the undisciplined bowling of Tim Southee and Boult at the other.

SLAP-DASH CRICKET

The overcast skies under which South Africa had been sent in were beginning to clear though and, counter-intuitively, conditions became more sporty for the bowlers as the day warmed up.

One of the most rivetting contests of the day was between veteran left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and Amla.

The Bearded Wonder had played some typically thrilling strokes in his 62, which included eight fours and a six off Vettori, but you always sensed he was trying to over-attack the canny former New Zealand captain.

Amla’s concentration lapsed – like so many of his teammates – as he tried to cut the fourth ball after the drinks break and edged Vettori, Van Wyk gloving the ball to slip Taylor.

South Africa’s slap-dash cricket was particularly prevalent in their running between the wickets, where they took many ill-judged risks and a run out was always on the cards.

It finally came in the 44th over with the demise of Mark Boucher, who did not get much of a chance to silence his critics as he hit his first ball for four and was run out off his second.

A crazy single to backward point and the quick reactions of Doug Bracewell enabled the South African-born Van Wyk, who left for New Zealand as he found his career blocked by Boucher, to get his name on the scorecard in his debut test and, coincidentally, his 100th first-class match.

Van Wyk, a contemporary of Rudolph’s at Affies and the Titans, showed slick glovework to gather Bracewell’s throw on the bounce and quickly break the stumps to catch Boucher just short of his ground.

Bracewell also always seemed to be doing something with the ball and gained his reward when he got Dale Steyn out for nine, a fine away-swinger, that also bounced more than expected, being edged to second slip, where it burst through Martin Guptill’s hands but went to Taylor at first slip, very nearly slipping through his grasp as well.

NO-BALL WICKET

Bracewell could easily have had Rudolph out on 32 in his previous over, seemingly trapping the left-hander plumb lbw. But the intervention of the third umpire, after the on-field umpire had refused the appeal, led to the exposé that the bustling seamer had over-stepped the line and bowled a no-ball.

Rudolph (46*) and Vernon Philander (4* off 37 balls) then steered South Africa to stumps in sombre fashion, a stark contrast to the shot-making parties that the top-order seemed to be enjoying.

Rudolph has looked composed and in the proper test cricket frame of mind of wearing down the bowlers, while Philander won many admirers for his restraint and dogged defence late in the day.

Martin was the best of the New Zealand bowlers with three for 34 in 14 overs, but the important work done by Vettori (15-4-31-1) and Bracewell (14-2-39-1) in stemming the run-flow and frustrating the batsmen should not be underestimated.

The South Africans have much work to do to prevent the impression that they have once again badly underestimated the fighting qualities of seemingly inferior opposition.