South Africa's Dunedin time machine

When South Africans travel to New Zealand, they go forward 11 hours in time but this particular touring party may be wondering if they have gone backwards. By five years.

In 2012, South Africa came to New Zealand for the first time in eight years and started the series at a place they had not been to before, Dunedin. While they expected a pleasant university town experience with all the quirks students bring, they were also bracing for some inhospitable conditions, both climatic, which was cold and wet and in the middle, and from the pitch where a sluggish surface allowed the game to take place in slow-motion. Only four members of that squad - Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel - have retuned but they may think not much else has changed.

Dunedin is still a pleasant university town and the students are as entertaining now as they were then. Just ask Morkel, who was stationed on the fine-leg boundary in front of their demarcated zone for significant parts of the afternoon session. The crowd was engaged in a drinking game and wanted to include Morkel so they tossed him a bottle of water and asked him to chug it. He downed it in one go. "We love Morne," they sang.

New Zealand's batsmen would not have agreed. Morkel has returned from a 14-month layoff, ready to reclaim his regular position in the side. He looks as sharp as ever and perhaps even a little stronger. Over 24 overs, he maintained consistent pace, showed good control and even on a surface that has not offered much assistance to bowlers from either side, proved a persistent threat.

As early as the first ball he bowled to James Neesham he caused uncertainty as Neesham made a late decision to leave and the ball deflected off his bat towards slip. In the next over, Morkel tested Neesham again and he still wasn't confident watching the ball go past. He had a dab and the edge carried through to Quinton de Kock.

There was some doubt over whether Morkel, in putting in the extra effort, had overstepped as he has done in the past. The heel of Morkel's front foot appeared to be just behind the line in one frame but over it in another. A no-ball was not called on-field and on referral Rod Tucker ruled it a legal delivery and Morkel barely put a foot wrong for the rest of the day.

He even found some reverse-swing with the old ball to keep Kane Williamson watchful. It was not quite the same amount of heat Morkel put on Williamson in Wellington five years ago, when he struck several body-blows as a young Williamson battled to save the game. Then, Williamson was still relatively new to Test cricket and the hundred was considered a breakthrough effort. Now, he is entrenched as the leader and he is blossoming in the role.

Already, Williamson has amassed 900 runs as captain at an average of 60. He has scored three centuries, none more important than this one. With Ross Taylor lost to a calf injury, Williamson knew the fate of the innings rested on him. After working his way to 78 on the second day, he was willing to wait 45 minutes and 27 balls before adding to his score on the third.

Then he showed off some classy stroke play - a pull in front of square off Vernon Philander and a straight drive down the ground to beat Kagiso Rabada were the highlights - and took New Zealand to a position from which taking the lead was realistic. But it needed the lower order to get them there and that's when the difference between the South Africa of five years ago and the South Africa now was clear.

In 2012 South Africa had Imran Tahir, who could not transpose his first-class reputation onto the Test arena. The general consensus is that Tahir was simply trying too hard. Now they have Keshav Maharaj, who took a maiden five-wicket haul and cleaned up the tail, playing the exact role South Africa want from him.

Maharaj is not a big turner of the ball, but he is supposed to be consistent and after conceding at more than 3.50 runs to the over on the second day he tightened up following advice from Claude Henderson, South Africa's spin consultant. "I spoke to Claude yesterday. It was a small technical thing we addressed and also a change of mindset," Maharaj said

By his own admission, Maharaj found bowling on this pitch, "extremely tough" mostly because of his "slower trajectory through the air." He fared better with a newer ball which "just skidded along a bit" and still has some work to do on holding up an end. However, he has shown promise, more than Tahir did, and has been rewarded. For that alone, South Africa will be pleased time has passed since 2012.

For everything else, they may be indifferent. Dunedin is still cold, so much so that the umpires called for gloves and the South Africans stood with their hands in their pockets or rubbing them together and blowing on them in effort to keep warm. Dunedin is still quirky - a fire alarm stopped play which made a change from the usual interruptions of bad light or rain.

Most of all Dunedin can still be wet and that is the one thing everyone would have wanted to change. Five years ago, the match was perfectly poised for a thrilling last day. New Zealand needed 264 runs and their two best batsmen, Taylor and Brendon McCullum, had bedded in. But the Dunedin weather denied fans any drama and the same could happen again. Rain is forecast for Sunday, which could mean that no matter how well set-up the contest is, it may not be allowed its final hurrah. Maybe not until the teams meet here again.