Kyle Verreynne, Kagiso Rabada and the spin of Keshav Maharaj had South Africa eyeing victory over New Zealand at stumps on day four of the second Test in Christchurch on Monday.

New Zealand, set an imposing record target of 426, were 94 for four with Devon Conway on 60 and Tom Blundell on one.

South Africa had declared their second innings at 354 for nine with Verreynne not out 136 his maiden Test century.

The existing record for the highest successful fourth innings is 418 by the West Indies against Australia 19 years ago and New Zealand started as if they thought it was within reach.

Tom Latham scampered for a cheeky single off the first ball to show intent but Rabada had other ideas.

Following his five-wicket haul in the first innings, and a rollicking 47 with the bat, he removed Will Young for nought with his third ball.

At the start of his second over he dismissed Latham for one and New Zealand were two for six.

It ended a disappointing Test for the New Zealand openers who managed only four runs between them across the two innings.

Left-arm spinner Maharaj, South Africa's point of difference to New Zealand's all pace attack, showed there was turn on the wicket and bowled Henry Nicholls for seven and Daryl Mitchell for 24.

When South Africa captain Dean Elgar elected to bat first -- the first captain to win the toss at Hagley Oval and not bowl -- he said he wanted his batsmen to "front up" after innings of 95 and 111 in their first Test thrashing.

Sarel Erwee obliged with a century in the first innings and it was Verreynne's turn in the second.

The 24-year-old, with a best score of 30 from his previous five Tests, anchored South Africa's second innings revival when they were 91 for five.

He shared in 78 run partnerships with Wiaan Mulder and Rabada before adding a further 32 with Lutho Sipamla until the declaration.

There was nothing reckless about his approach but he punished anything that was loose.

His 50 came from a single when he nudged Kyle Jamieson to fine leg and the 100 was from a boundary when he whipped Matt Henry in the same direction -- one of 16 fours along with one six in his 299 minute stay in the middle.

Mulder reached 35 before he edged a Jamieson delivery and was caught one-handed by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell diving to his right.

Marco Jansen made nine before he swung Colin de Grandhomme to deep midwicket where he was caught one-handed by Young as he rolled over to avoid hitting the boundary marker.

Rabada went on the rampage smacking four sixes and four fours to reach 47 off 34 deliveries before he was caught in the deep attempting to reach his fifty.

Maharaj added four in a brief stay in the middle and Lutho Sipamla was not out 10 after surviving a barrage of short balls including one which struck him on the helmet.

SCOREBOARD:

SOUTH AFRICA 1ST INNINGS: 364 (S. Erwee 108, A. Markram 42, D. Elgar 41; Wagner 4-102, Henry 3-90)

NEW ZEALAND 1ST INNINGS: 293 (C. de Grandhomme 120 n.o., D. Mitchell 60; Rabada 5-60, Jansen 4-98)

SOUTH AFRICA 2ND INNINGS: (OVERNIGHT 140-5)

S. Erwee lbw Southee                     8

D. Elgar c Blundell b Southee         13

A. Markram b Henry                         14

R. van der Dussen c&b Wagner       45

T. Bavuma c Southee b Wagner       23

K. Verreynne not out                       136

W. Mulder c Blundell b Jamieson       35

M. Jansen c Young b de Grandhomme      9

K. Rabada c de Grandhomme b Henry     47

K. Maharaj c de Grandhomme b Jamieson  4

L. Sipalma not out                    10

EXTRAS: (lb5, w3, nb2)                10

TOTAL: (nine wickets; 100 overs)     354

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Erwee), 2-23 (Elgar), 3-38 (Markram), 4-103 (van der Dussen), 5-114 (Bavuma), 6-192 (Mulder), 7-219 (Jansen), 8-297 (Rabada), 9-322 (Maharaj)

BOWLING: Southee 26-5-90-2, Henry 24-5-81-2, Jamieson 21-2-81-2 (3w, 2nb), Wagner 23-3-81-2, de Grandhomme 6-2-16-1

NEW ZEALAND 2ND INNINGS:

T. Latham c van der Dussen b Rabada   1

W. Young c Bavuma b Rabada            0

D. Conway not out                    60

H. Nicholls b Maharaj                 7

D. Mitchell b Maharaj                24

T. Blundell not out                   1

EXTRAS: (lb1)                         1

TOTAL: (four wickets; 42 overs)      94

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Young), 2-6 (Latham), 3-25 (Nicholls), 4-81 (Mitchell)

BOWLING: Rabada 8-2-17-2, Jansen 8-1-30-0, Maharaj 16-7-32-2, Sipamla 10-5-14-0

TOSS: South Africa

Series: New Zealand lead 1-0

UMPIRES: Chris Brown (NZL), Wayne Knights (NZL)

TV UMPIRE: Chris Gaffaney(NZL)

MATCH REFEREE: Jeff Crowe (NZL)