Cinistuff

When Graeme Smith first toured New Zealand he was 23 years old. He had already been South Africa's captain for nine months and 13 Test matches, won seven of them and had two double hundreds to his name. He hid his inexperience behind a veneer of bullishness, while displaying his obvious talent.

Eight years have passed since then and Smith has captained South Africa in 74 more Tests, 34 of which have ended in victory. He has scored 17 more hundreds, not even a velvet curtain can hide his feelings now and he has collected battle scars from all around the world. His most recent one is the bruising on his forearm, sustained after being hit by Morne Morkel in the first net-practice of the current tour, but it will not stop him from leading South Africa in Dunedin.

South Africa drew the 2004 Test series, Smith's only previous one in New Zealand, 1-1. Smith says the side is better equipped to win this time because, like him, they are older and wiser. "We were a little wet behind the ears then," Smith said at the University Oval. "We have a far more attacking mindset now. Before, we used to tour wanting to see how well we could do; now we tour thinking 'we've come to here to win'. It's a very different thought process."

Series wins abroad, most notably in Australia and England, have contributed to the Test side's growing self-assuredness. Since winning a home series for the first time since 2008 - they beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in 2011-12 - South Africa have become known as the most consistent side in Test cricket, and can become the top-ranked Test team if they beat New Zealand 3-0. Also aiding South Africa is the fact that they dominated New Zealand in the Twenty20s and ODIs preceding the Tests, something Smith said would have dented the hosts' confidence.

"After losing the way they did, if we can perform well in this first Test match maybe we can dent that confidence even more; and New Zealand have a lot of players involved in both series, even though they do get three of four key players back. Maybe their confidence is not as thick and strong as it was a few months ago. Hopefully we can get into that and open it up a little bit."

Smith said the bowling attack South Africa have on this tour is more dynamic than the one that they had on their last trip to New Zealand, which featured Shaun Pollock, Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini. This season has seen the emergence of fast bowler Vernon Philander, who stunned both Australia and Sri Lanka with little more than the ability to bowl almost no bad balls and enjoyed a return of 30 wickets from his first four Tests, and legspinner Imran Tahir, who gives South Africa another attacking option.

"He's had an unbelievable start to his Test career," Smith said of Philander. "He has a very different style to the rest of our attack. He asks a lot of questions with the ball, he is in the right area more often than not and even on flat wickets gets the ball to talk a little bit. He brings a lot of consistency to our attack and I think he has been a real asset in addition to the pace of Dale [Steyn] and Morne [Morkel.

"We've got a lot more pace now than we had eight years ago. We've also got a legspinner now."

Tahir has not had a massive impact on the five Tests he has played so far but will be in the starting XI in Dunedin, as part of coach Gary Kirsten's plan to give players a sustained run.

Kirsten is one of the reasons for South Africa's changed approach. If there is a man who can introduce a philosophy to help South Africa achieve things they have previously been unable to, like spending time at the top of the Test rankings, Smith believes Kirsten is him. "More than anything, of all the coaches I have been under, Gary brings a much more relaxed, mature approach to the way he runs the team. We've grown a lot over the last few years and need someone to take us to the next level in terms of maturity, and the way we play and think about the game."

Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan took full toll of a wayward Australia as Sri Lanka forced a third triangular series final in Adelaide. Chasing 272, the visitors galloped to the target with 5.4 overs to spare, benefiting greatly from a rollicking start when the first three overs reaped 30 runs.

Dilshan alternated between the brazen and the cheeky, crashing 10 fours and also being struck on the helmet when he attempted his patented Dil-scoop. The captain Jayawardene was more cultured, but outpaced his partner in a princely innings that would have ended in the second over if not for a Clint McKay no-ball.

Such indiscipline summed up Australia's predicament, having struck a horrid patch of form in the field midway through the first final in Brisbane and then being unable to rise above it in Adelaide. The captain Michael Clarke is also in the unenviable position of carrying a left hamstring problem perilously close to the start of the West Indies tour, due to begin almost immediately after the third final.

Clarke had done his best to give his side a decent total. His 117 in Australia's 6 for 271 was the fastest of his limited-overs career and the second of his ODI captaincy. David Warner was more circumspect, but his chanceless 100 demonstrated a range of concentration and focus reserved for the best of batsmen. Famed as a boundary hitter, Warner reached the rope only four times in his innings and cleared it only once, but the value of his effort was reflected in a final total far greater than seemed possible at the innings' midpoint.

Matthew Wade departed early to the spin of Dilshan, who opened the bowling and completed a tidy 10 overs, before Shane Watson played a chancy innings in which he was grassed twice. Each dropped catch fell off the bowling of Farveez Maharoof, who ultimately ran out Australia's vice-captain with a direct hit in his follow through. Lasith Malinga was the tightest of Sri Lanka's bowlers and deserved his three wickets.

Two more catches would go down off Clarke's bat later in the innings, while Jayawardene raged against a delayed no-ball call at the height of his opposite number's innings. Debating the point angrily with both umpires after Maharoof had strayed above waist height with a full toss, Jayawardene lost his cool. His fury would be far more controlled when the reply began.

A second-over edge behind by Jayawardene was cancelled out by McKay's overstep, typical of the abject way in which Australia's bowlers began their defence of a less than watertight total. Brett Lee gave up three wides on the way to conceding 12 from the opening over, and James Pattinson's first two overs were taken for 22 despite an abundance of away swing.

No fewer than 11 of the first 30 runs were handed to Sri Lanka via the extras column, as Australia's bowlers maintained the poorly form they had demonstrated in the latter overs in Brisbane. Clarke had taken the field despite his injury, but his presence did not make much of a difference.

Jayawardene and Dilshan did not get too frantic after the start they were given, and slipped into comfortable gears that involved regular singles and the odd boundary whenever the bowlers strayed in search of a first wicket. Australia's mid-innings options were milked for regular runs, Xavier Doherty's first five costing 37.

Dilshan was first to pass 50, and Jayawardene soon followed. Australia's frustration grew when Asad Rauf refused a concerted appeal for caught behind from Dilshan on 77, as replays revealed a substantial edge that Wade gathered while keeping up to Watson.

Jayawardene's sparkling stay was ended by a hint of Pattinson reverse swing and a clear lbw, but Dilshan went on to his second century of the tournament before Dinesh Chandimal and Kumar Sangakkara guided the visitors home.

Clarke had little hesitation batting upon winning the toss, but the early overs were slow going. Jayawardene's imaginative use of Dilshan added to the openers' uncertainty, and Wade's impatience proved terminal when he swung at a ball not quite short enough for the stroke and was bowled.

Watson's innings was halting, and he was dropped by Dilshan in the fielding circle then by Rangana Herath on the long-off boundary - the latter unable to complete an equivalent of his spectacular outfield take in the first final. However Maharoof was not discouraged by the missed chances, and when Watson was 15 he gathered and swivelled from Warner's offside bunt to throw down the stumps and find a diving Watson comfortably short. Clarke helped to build some greater momentum in the company of Warner, who was less conspicuous than he had been at the Gabba.

The pair accumulated steadily, adding a little more impetus with the batting Powerplay, and continuing to benefit from profligate fielding from the tourists. Clarke was turfed on 71 and 77, the second chance falling to Malinga, who managed only to palm the chance over the rope for six.

It set the scene for an explosive over, in which Clarke took Maharoof for six, four, six, four - the last a high full toss swung behind square leg. Initially the umpires did not call it a no-ball, but on reflection Bruce Oxenford raised his arm to hand Australia an extra run and another delivery. Jayawardene was incensed by the delayed call, arguing at length with both officials in a manner that suggested more of the incident would be heard later.

Clarke had blazed past Warner despite the opener having a 23-run start, and he was first to reach his century with a flick through square leg. Though he had made plenty of useful contributions in the interim, it was Clarke's first ODI century since his first innings as the fully-fledged captain, against Bangladesh in Dhaka in April 2011.

Warner's hundred arrived in the next over, an effort of composure and also courage after his groin complaint in Brisbane. He skied a catch without adding another run, leaving an increasingly restricted Clarke to guide the hosts to a total rather less substantial than was ultimately needed.

Kruger van Wyk will make his Test debut for New Zealand on Wednesday after BJ Watling was ruled out of the first Test against South Africa due to a hip injury. van Wyk, 32, will debut against the country of his birth as wicketkeeper in the absence of Watling, who won the battle between the two men for a place in New Zealand's previous Test, against Zimbabwe in January.

van Wyk will become the fifth wicketkeeper used by New Zealand in Tests in the past two years, after Brendon McCullum gave up the gloves in the longer format and was succeeded by Gareth Hopkins and then Reece Young. He is the second leading run scorer in the Plunket Shield this summer with 638 runs at an average of 91.14.

The New Zealand physio Paul Close said Watling had played a full part in training over the past two days but there remained some risk that he would not get through the full five days of a Test match.

"The decision was based on a re-assessment made after training today by BJ and myself," Close said. "The nature of the injury is such that we were concerned about BJ's ability to get through the match, based the high workloads required by a wicket-keeper batsman. He requires further assessment find out the best course of action and to determine how long it is until he's back playing. "

van Wyk will become New Zealand's oldest Test debutant since Chris Kuggeleijn in 1988.

Mark Boucher is likely to announce his retirement after South Africa's tour of England in July this year.

"I would like to go England and then start a process of trying to get another keeper involved. I think I've still got a lot to offer in that department," Boucher, who is part of South Africa's Test squad touring New Zealand, told ESPNcricinfo. "My body is getting a little sore, to be honest. The back is starting to play up a bit. If I can manage myself form-wise and it all goes to plan, then after England I will probably look at my career and my retirement."

Although South Africa have not picked their squad to England yet, Boucher was hopeful of being included, depending on his performances in New Zealand. He has been on three tours to England, and said his experience could merit a fourth visit.

"I am pretty well-equipped mentally for what's going to happen," he said. "Even the English keepers will tell you that in England you will drop the odd ball. You just have to try and hold on to the catches, because it does move around there a lot."

Boucher has been South Africa's premier wicketkeeper for 15 years and has only missed three Tests since making his debut in 1997.

His first tour to England, in 1998, Boucher said, played an important part in his overall development. "When I first went there, it was a big eye-opener for me in terms of my technique. I thought keeping in South Africa on some occasions was quite difficult but it's actually a lot harder keeping in England. The second time I went there [in 2003] was actually a lot easier because I wasn't blind to what I was going to do and it went a lot better for me. Hopefully, third time round I will be able to keep even better."

If selected, Boucher will have to play the dual role of keeper and mentor, as Cricket South Africa - which, for the first time since it introduced contracts in 1998, signed a second wicketkeeper for the 2012-13 season - prepares for life without him.

Thami Tsolekile, who took over from Boucher in 2004, has been earmarked as his successor once again, but Andrew Hudson, the convenor of selectors, said Tsolekile was not guaranteed a place in the national side simply by virtue of his contract and that other keepers around the country, such as Heino Kuhn and Dane Vilas, are all eligible for selection.

Hudson said Boucher would groom his successor; the process for appointing one is likely to start on the England tour, for which the panel will consider sending two keepers.

Although he has not clearly identified a replacement, Boucher has helped monitor the situation at his own franchise, the Cobras, where he has played a part in Vilas' development.

"I've been working hard with Dane Vilas. He's extremely talented," he said. "He has a couple of things to do as a keeper but he is improving every day and improving fast. As a batter he could fit into any side. He is extremely talented, he is aggressive, which is just perfect for Twenty20, one-day and Test cricket. I'm not saying he is the next guy to take over but he certainly has potential."

For now, Boucher said he is focused on the tour of New Zealand, which could set the tone for South Africa's next year of travel. Boucher arrived with the remaining members of the Test squad last Thursday, and as one of only four players to have been to New Zealand before, on the 2004 tour, is looking forward to the challenge a second time around.

"We haven't been to New Zealand for a long time and it looks like the conditions have changed a lot from the past. It looks like there might be a bit of assistance for our bowlers. New Zealand are very similar to us in the way that they walk around, they are very confident, bordering on arrogant, which is a good thing. It will be a good contest."