As the first test match between Zimbabwe and South Africa has been officially closed out, one side dominated this match while the other struggled to find its footing. Considering the fact that Zimbabwe was playing on their home ground with a massive crowd backing them, it was quite amazing how their opposition dethroned them by 328 runs.
In a series where both sides were derailed with injuries and players resting, watching some of these younger plus rising players from domestic stages showcase their talent was a sight to be seen. Although many analysts and experts believed this match would be closer than anticipated, the experienced South African players led this group’s charge to make it how it was originally predicted.
With both groups playing each other in test matches consistently now, Zimbabwe hopes this performance is not a prelude of things to come during their 2nd test match on the 6th of July. As their side was really lacking leadership, with no Sikandar Raza and Richard Ngavra, it was shown throughout this series in multiple phases.
Now that both sides have had a match against each other, it will be interesting to see if they make any major changes going into the next match. But before those are made, it’s important to see how each day went and which team was lacking somewhere or dominant in another aspect of the game.
Day 1: South Africa’s Lower-Order Announced Themselves To The Cricketing World
Looking back on the first day, it was pretty clear that the top order of South Africa had trouble against Zimbabwe’s pacers Tanaka Chivanga and Blessing Muzarabani. They really had their backs against the wall as Zimbabwe had this group at 55/4 in just 22.3 overs. Despite this, though, and 4 wickets from Chivanga in his first spell, South Africa took the pressure as a favor, where Lhaun-Dre Pretorius changed this match’s complexion. With his knock of 153 off just 160 deliveries, it helped South Africa jump all the way to 289/7 as Dewald Brevis had a quick-fire half-century himself.
As their top-order batsman had only combined for 30 runs before getting out, this group’s 5th to 8th ended up scoring 314 runs for just the loss of 3 wickets. Outside of Pretorius, another match altering innings came from Corbin Bosch who hit a century and remained not out.
Finishing with a score of 418/9 before declaring, bowlers like Codi Yusuf showed batting potential after knocking around five boundaries and 27 total runs. Looking at this side, Captain Keshav Maharaj instilled a lot of confidence in them, which allowed the batting unit to hit a combined 45 boundaries of gigantic sixes plus classy drives for four.
Day 2: A Strong Bowling Performance By The Proteas Despite A Few Tickles
Seeing that this South African group finished their batting the day before, it was their chance with the ball against Zimbabwe’s batting unit. As Brian Bennett came to open with Takudzwanshe Kaitano, Codi Yusuf had picked a massive wicket off him.
After taking out Nick Welch and Brian Bennett going out for 19 runs due to injury, there was a partnership in this match that made it feel like it was going Zimbabwe’s way. This was between Sean Williams and Craig Ervine as their 91-run partnership helped the total go all the way up to 119/2. But in came South Africa’s captain Keshav, who took out Craig Ervine for 49 runs and picked up another vital two wickets.
Meanwhile, Wiaan Mulder’s domination in the middle really helped his side as he took out all of Zimbabwe’s middle-order batsmen. With Keshav Maharaj and Codi Yusuf putting the icing on the cake by picking up their final wickets, South Africa got another crack at batting.
Up by 160+ runs, it was looking like their opening batsmen would once again struggle after Matthew Breetzke got out for one, but that didn’t end up being the case. Batsman Tony De Zorzi and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder showed great control to end the day at 49/1 and a scoring lead of 216 runs against this Zimbabwe unit.
Day 3: The Match Looks More Than Close To Finished
After coming in for batting during Day 3, South Africa were able to increase their lead by 537 runs since they hit 369/10. As opener Tony De Zorzi looked very composed at the crease, he managed to get out for 31 from Tanaka Chivanga’s amazing swing bowling
But the one player who stayed steady throughout the day, even though players like Dewald Brevis were getting out, was Wiaan Mulder because of his 137-run knock. Although he hadn’t shown much of his aggressive hitting in innings before that one, Mulder started smacking sixes as well and stayed in until South Africa were 259/6.
Although Corbin Bosch and Kyle Verreynne had their own 30+ scores, the other big story line was Keshav Maharaj’s half-century which gave South Africa an oppurtuntiy to go past 350 runs. For Zimbabwe’s bowling on that day, Wellington Masakadza continued perfecting his confusion for other batsmen with top-notch off-spin bowling.
Having picked up 4 big wickets, including that of Wiaan Mulder, he was once again supported by Tanaka Chivanga and Blessing Muzarabani, one wicket, to not let this game get completely out of hand. Zimbabwe was then able to bat and get their score to 32/1 with Prince Masvaure at 12 not out to set up a final day of them chasing 500+.
Day 4: Finishing Touches Are Put On By South Africa’s Bowlers
Going into the last day, where they had to chase down 505 runs, Zimbabwe lost their first batsman in a matter of moments after Nick Welch went for a clean duck. With this being a day that the Zimbabwe squad had to score in bunches, it was looking promising when Sean Williams started his innings before getting out to Corbin Bosch. Someone who finished with 26 runs, it was another huge moment for the wicket-taker Bosch as he added to his very historical test match.
After already hitting a 100, the right-arm medium pacer was able to get a 5-wicket haul and took out most of the opposing top order, including captain Craig Ervine. Although Ervine hit 49 runs for Zimbabwe at 2 down, and there was some late inning prowess from Wellington Masakadza, 57 runs, next to Bosch was Codi Yusuf again who was confusing batsman with his bowling angles.
Taking a total of 6 wickets in this series, he had gotten both Wessly Madhevere and Tafadzwa Tsiga for 0, to more than finish up this much. As Blessing Muzarabani tried to make something positive out of nothing with his 32 not-out towards the end of the innings, Dewald Brevis picked up his first career international wicket after getting Tanaka Chivanaga on a stumping. With this wicket, the match was officially complete, and South Africa won the first match with ease, while Zimbabwe gained more experience on how to play them.
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