Elgar beams after inexperienced Proteas rise to occasion: 'They put their hands up'

Right at the precipice of being written off, the Proteas came storming back to draw the two-match series with New Zealand with a stunning 198-run second Test victory.

The win came in large part thanks to two newcomers, Sarel Erwee and Kyle Verreynne, who scored a hundred in the first and second innings, respectively.

For Erwee, it was the coming to pass of his undoubted pedigree, while it was the coming of age of SA's new batting gloveman Verreynne.

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But the Proteas relied on handy contributions from Wiaan Mulder, whose 35 went a long way when Verreynne needed a batting partner, and the pair put on 78 for the sixth wicket in the second innings.

"It was good to see young guys come in and test our squad depth," said Dean Elgar.

"We lost Lungi Ngidi early in the series with a back issue, so having him not available for the two Tests was a big loss for our bowling unit.

"But guys came in and put their hands up, especially in the second Test. Wiaan is someone with a massive work rate and work ethic and we can't doubt him on that.

"He sometimes lets himself down with overthinking the game too much but that comes with inexperience.

"The more he plays at this level, the better he's going to get. There's no doubt he's got the talent and ability. He just needs to keep doing the right things, the right habits and things will go his way more times than not.

"So, it was good to see him put on a good partnership with Kyle in the second innings and extend our lead, which was vitally important for us because it was the start of day four and things could have gone pear-shaped if we lost wickets."

Like a cool balm, Verreynne's knock soothed the Proteas' gaping