South Africa dominated the opening day's play in the second Test against New Zealand on Thursday, moving on to 231 for two wickets at the close after building on a strong opening partnership.

After being asked to bat by New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, his counterpart Graeme Smith (88) and Herschelle Gibbs (80) put on 177 for the first wicket before both were dismissed either side of the tea interval.

"That toss could have been one I would have liked to have lost," Fleming said.

"There's been a couple of times this summer that pitches have fooled a lot of people, but today we honestly thought we'd get a window of opportunity by bowling first.

"The opportunity wasn't as big as we hoped."

The not out batsmen are Jacques Kallis (39), going for his sixth century in as many Tests, and Jacques Rudolph (14).

The pair came together as a result of the only bright spell of the day for New Zealand, when the home side captured two wickets in as many deliveries.

First to go was Gibbs, bowled Cairns with the final ball of the afternoon session, before Smith followed when he was trapped lbw by Chris Martin with the first delivery after the break.

Cairns moved to 199 Test victims with the wicket of Gibbs while Smith was left one run shy of 2,000 in just his 23rd match.

The South African captain admitted that it was a tough pitch to bat on despite his high score.

"I never felt comfortable one bit. It was a grind the whole day and to get up to 88 and get out to something you should have hit for four is a little bit disappointing," Smith said.

"I think we are happy with where we are, but I think you could add another 50 runs on that total," he added.

"The outfield was slow and there wasn't a lot of pace off the wicket to hit through.

"When Jacques Kallis comes off and tells you he was struggling to drive a ball, you know you have to graft."

SOLID DEFENCE

After tea, New Zealand bowled with more purpose but Kallis tempered their enthusiasm with a solid defence and punishing stroke-play.

By contrast, Rudolph struggled, taking 33 balls to get off the mark and his 14-run knock has taken 126 minutes and 87 balls to construct.

However, the left-hander has been an able ally to Kallis, who is bidding to equal Sir Donald Bradman's record for the most successive Test centuries.

Their 50 partnership, though slow at 163 balls, was also invaluable in steadying the innings after the loss of two quick wickets.

"That last session was phenomenal really," Fleming said.

"I'm not sure if we were outstanding or whether it was just a little bit strange tactically.

"But we stuck to our guns and walked off the paddock with a little bit more satisfaction than if they had dominated the last session, which can often happen after a day in the field."

New Zealand made one change from the side that drew the first Test of the three-match series, recalling the fast-medium bowler Martin for Paul Wiseman while South Africa replaced left-arm spinner Paul Adams with orthodox left-armer Nicky Boje.

Paceman David Terbrugge also came in for Andre Nel.

The three-match series is tied at 0-0 after the sides battled out a draw in Hamilton last week.

Scoreboard:

South Africa
G.Smith lbw b Martin 88
H.Gibbs b Cairns 80
J.Rudolph not out 14
J.Kallis not out 39

Extras (lb-8 nb-1 w-1) 10

Total (for two wickets, 90 overs) 231

Fall of wickets: 1-177, 2-177.

To bat: G.Kirsten, N.McKenzie, M.Boucher, S.Pollock, N.Boje, M.Ntini, D.Terbrugge.

Bowling: Tuffey 19-6-28-0 (w-1), Martin 19-4-61-1 (nb-1), Oram 18-3-39-0, Cairns 15-4-43-1, Styris 14-5-37-0, Vettori 5-1-15-0.

New Zealand: S.Fleming, M.Richardson, M.Papps, S.Styris, C.McMillan, C.Cairns, J.Oram, B.McCullum, D.Vettori, D.Tuffey, C.Martin.