'We have it naturally as South Africans' - Proteas' resilience hailed after another series comeback

When man of the match Kagiso Rabada was asked about the Proteas' remarkable turnaround in their drawn Test series against New Zealand, one word came to mind: resilience. 

Thrashed by an innings and 276 runs in the first Test having been bowled out for 95 and 111, South Africa found something from somewhere to bounce back for the second, winning by 198 runs at the Hagley Oval on Tuesday. 

It means the series is drawn 1-1, while South Africa's proud record of having never lost a Test series to New Zealand remains intact. 

In the space of a couple of months, the Proteas have now beaten number one-ranked India at home and drawn to world champions New Zealand away and, on both occasions, they have come back from 1-0 down in the series. 

There is uncertainty surrounding the future of head coach Mark Boucher, who must face a disciplinary hearing on charges of gross misconduct in May, but one thing clear is that this team is moving in the right direction presently while showing tons of fight. 

Rabada, who carded figures of 8/106 in the match and was at his devastating best, said that character was something inherent in South Africans and Proteas teams of the past.

"I think it's what we have naturally as South Africans," said Rabada.

"If you have a look at previous teams, the word that always fits us best was 'resilience'. It was never easy to beat us in a Test series and we proved that again in this series.

"It was extremely hard and we had young guys stepping up like Lutho (Sipamla), Kyle (Verreynne) and Sarel (Erwee) in his first series. There are lots of good signs for the future.

"Resilience has always been a character trait that we have best shown to the world."

Rabada touched on what the chat had been in between Test matches,