As this test match is officially in the books, South Africa have swept Zimbabwe 2-0 and are keeping their run going. Now, having won 10 straight matches in the long format, with one draw in the middle, this group has become nearly unbeatable.
As many outside fans and analysts expected it to be a pretty close series due to being a massive homecoming for Zimbabwe, that didn’t remain true as the Proteas throttled them by 236 runs and one whole innings. The even bigger piece about this match is how South Africa’s captain, Wiaan Mulder, performed in his debut for this side and put together one of the most historic knocks when his group was in trouble.
Now that this unit won’t play test cricket until later on in the year against India, this strong performance will leave them on a very positive note going into the long break. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe was anticipated to perform much more efficiently than this, and it has caused a lot of sadness in fans’ eyes after the joy of their return.
As today, they couldn’t connect on any phase of the game and dominate on that specific one, they will have to wait until late July in order to show if their issues were fixed. With today being the final nail in the coffin, there were several key parts of this series that occurred and are worth mentioning throughout the three days.
Wiaan Mulder shines
Heading into day one of this test match, South Africa batted tremendously as they managed to score 465 runs. On such a day, when they were completely trouncing Zimbabwe bowlers, captain Wiaan Mulder led the charge with 264 runs. Wiaan Mulder boundary-hitting ability was fully on display. Wiaan Mulder managed to collect over 30 fours and sixes throughout his historic innings on day one.
Having been leading from the front, Wiaan Mulder was really this match’s game changer after South Africa’s openers got out for a combined 24 runs. Not only did Wiaan Mulder score with relative ease, but he was also able to sustain partnerships with batsmen who were out of form before this match.
One such instance was with David Bedingham, who managed to score 82 runs and help build a near 200-run partnership that put South Africa in a commanding position. Although he ended up getting out on that day itself, he found a boundary-hitting rhythm and played some wonderful strokes.
Wiaan Mulder also created a very good duo with newcomer Lhuan Dre-Pretorius, as both of them almost finished the remaining overs while adding 217 runs. Seeing that Pretorius hit 78, this was a day when many big-time Zimbabwe bowlers like Wellington Masakadza, over 150 runs allowed, and Wessley Madhevere, nearly 6.7 economy, really struggled to get any sort of luck on their side.
South Africa Capped off An Historic Performance
As the away side already had a mammoth total on the board from day one, they just kept on piling runs until it was finally time to declare. The story of Wiaan Mulder continued as he put together another 103 runs and looked in similar touch to the day prior.
Finishing at 367, Wiaan was only 34 runs away from breaking Brian Lara’s record, and many fans, plus teammates, wanted him to keep going. Hitting another 19 total boundaries, he got his total all the way up to 53 while smashing 49 fours and hammering four sixes. With many fans commending his performance, he helped build deeper partnerships so that his side could get to 626/5.
Dewald Brevis added 30 runs when Wiaan Mulder was batting, as he was the one who helped lift South Africa past 500 runs. Focusing on the gaps towards outside areas, his prowess gave him a chance to hit four fours and look like a threat before mis-timing a shot.
As Kyle Verreynne added 42 later, he & Wiaan Mulder combined for 113 runs before their management team said the score was good enough. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s bowling attack had another nightmare day as their only bowler doing well on day one in Blessing Muzarabani, allowed almost 5 runs per over. Their other key piece in Tanaka Chivanga was still more economically sound, but didn’t pose any wicket-taking threat.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe had two innings of batting on this day as they were chasing down 626. The reason for this is that they couldn’t avoid a follow-on since they were already 456 runs behind after getting all out for 170. Their batting struggles were once again evident during that first innings, with Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Dion Myers getting dismissed in the first two overs at just four runs.
As captain Craig Ervine only scored 17 runs and couldn’t get any rhythm going, there was also clear frustration with Nick Welch as he hit one four before getting out under 20 runs, yet again. With their bottom order also not getting anything going, the only player who showed up was Sean Williams after his 83-run knock.
South Africa’s bowling, on the contrary, really showed why their unit was stronger as Codi Yusuf struck with two wickets again. Him bowling in a Dale Steyn-like manner helped get two crucial Zimbabwe top-order batsmen out, while Wiaan Mulder also dominated with the ball after a historic batting performance. Picking up two wickets on his end, his pace delivery to remove Craig Ervine was vital, as his 3.33 economy also played a factor.
Having such depth allowed South Africa’s new bowler Prenelan Subrayen to pick a four-fer in his match. After they got Zimbabwe all out for 170, this unit bowled again. But with them knowing they had a big lead and getting tired towards the end, they allowed Zimbabwe to start pretty strong at 51/1.
This Match Is Finally Capped Off
Going into the final day, Zimbabwe had a huge task of chasing down 405 today after already losing out on one bowling innings. One positive not for them despite ending all-out for 220 was that Takudzwanshe Kaitano finally had a solid innings. Scoring 40 runs, he showed a great deal of patience and awareness to hit the ball in open gaps.
Creating a partnership of 31 with Nick Welch, the one-down batsman also showed a great deal of batting skill as he got towards his half-century. Having scored 55 runs, he was also going big with two massive sixes, while scoring a combined 50 alongside Craig Ervine when they were out together.
As Ervine also almost got to his 2nd half-century in this series, the back order also looked pretty solid with Wellington Masakadza hitting three fours and Tanaka Chivanga finishing at 22 before getting out. Despite this, though, a huge deal of credit goes towards South Africa’s bowling attack once again, and especially Senuran Muthuswamy.
Getting rid of both Nick Welch and Takudzwanshe Kaitano after their strong innings, his economy also improved by a lot, while creating great spells later on with Pranelan Subrayen. The story of today’s bowling was Corbin Bosch as he got a four-wicket haul and was nearly unbeatable in the middle stages where other batsman were getting hit for boundaries, while Wiaan Mulder added one.
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