The first day between South Africa and Zimbabwe has officially been completed in this second test match. With the Proteas having been forced to bat first today, they didn’t regret this at all since their unit managed to get 465 runs with the loss of just four wickets.
It was a dominating day for South Africa as they were able to have complete control over Zimbabwe’s bowlers and kept the crowd factor completely out of it for a huge chunk of the day. With them having no Keshav Maharaj as the captain for this test series due to rest, Wiaan Mulder did a terrific job of leading the charge and helping this group through all the twists and turns this match had to present early on.
As South Africa will be going into tomorrow with a world of confidence to have complete control of this match and potentially end it early, their group will be super re-charged to do so. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe, on the other end, is looking to write off today’s failures in their bowling and fielding departments to help themselves back into this match.
Although both teams have shown a world of difference in skill and performance today, it will be quite interesting to see if it stays the same or there are differences going into tomorrow. But, before that, it’s first vital to understand what transpired today, plus which specific players made a huge impact.
South Africa’s Top Order Rebounds
At the beginning of the match, it seemed like Zimbabwe could keep it competitive and potentially put South Africa in a difficult position. With Tony De Zorzi being out for 9 as the first wicket, there was a massive roar across all fans in Bulawayo. But, as soon as Lesogo Senokwane got removed on an LBW with South Africa at 24/2, captain Wiaan Mulder was able to keep this batting order composed and helped them lock in.
Coming in at one down, Mulder delivered a massive 264-run knock with over 34 boundaries and managed to do it for his second straight innings against Zimbabwe.
His prowess really helped him build a strong partnership with David Bedingham of 184 runs and got South Africa past 200 runs. Talking about Bedingham, his ability to give that type of knock at two-down was massive since he was previously struggling before this match.
Scoring 82 in just 101 deliveries, his four-hitting ability and controlled shots were really on display, while he showed improvements in moving up the crease. Although he got out on a full ball from Tanaka Chivanga, David Bedingham mostly became a fear to most bowlers during their spells against him in the middle overs of today’s innings.
Wiaan Mulder’s flamboyant knock
As South Africa’s top order made a huge comeback and managed to score 208 runs despite starting slowly, their middle order has already made an impact heading into tomorrow. Although not many of them got a chance to bat today, the massive innings came from rising star Lhuan dre-Pretorius.
After knocking 150+ in his first innings of the 1st test match, he’s followed it up with another half-century. Helping to pile on runs at the moment for South Africa, he showed exquisite ball placement near boundary areas after knocking three sixes and plenty of fours in relative ease.
Pretorious knocking over 70 was vital because he developed a partnership of over 200 runs with Wiaan Mulder that ended up lasting a massive part of the final overs. Knowing that there is still Dewald Brevis, who just started his innings scoring 15 runs, and Kyle Verreynne, the runs will keep piling on for this unit.
On a day where Pretorius had managed to hit at least 10 fours and sixes combined, he gave the South Africans a huge boost to race past 400 runs. Seeing that this middle order is very young and possesses tons of skill, Zimbabwe bowlers could barely attack them today, with the Proteas’ depth not even fully tested yet.
Zimbabwe’s lackluster bowling performance
Despite Zimbabwe allowing tons of runs in the first test as well, today’s performance seemed even rougher as many of their top bowlers were getting smacked around. Blessing Muzarabani did have an economy of under 4.4 and several chances for a wicket, but outside of him, the only other bowler who thrived was Tanaka Chivanga.
As Zimbabwe’s second-best right-hand pacer got three key wickets, they were on Tony De Zorzi early to create pressure and David Bedingham to break a massive partnership. With him being the only other notable bowler who had an economy under 5.0, Zimbabwe used him in longer spells whenever they were in desperate need of a wicket, and too many runs were leaked.
One bowler who really had a tough time being a threat today was Wessley Madhevere, after he went for an economy of 6.71. Someone who looked like he was in somewhat good touch during the first test, it was not his day at all, and Zimbabwe decided not to even give him a long spell.
The left-arm off-spinner in Wellington Masakadza was another piece in a world of trouble as he allowed over 150 runs and just managed to pick up one wicket in 28 overs of bowling. Seeing that newcomer Dion Myers had only finished 2.3 overs, it was cut short, while Kundai Matigimu had to finish it off. Even though he replaced Myers, his economy was near 5.70 as well, to round out this bowling attack’s performance.
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