Zimbabwe look for batting turnaround in final ODI

OverviewSouth Africa v Zimbabwe
3rd ODI
Boland Park, Paarl
Saturday, 6 October, 1.00pm local time, 11.00am GMT

This hasn’t been a good series for the batsmen. Two matches, and the scores have been 117 and 119/5, and 198 and 78, the lower numbers there belonging to Zimbabwe, which explains the scoreline – 2-0 to South Africa.

Admittedly, the pitches in Kimberley and Bloemfontein weren't the best to bat on. Especially in the second game in Bloemfontein, the surface was a testing one. Even Dale Steyn, who top-scored for South Africa with 60 – his first ODI half-century – called it ‘pretty tough conditions’.

He is ‘hoping that Paarl’s going to be the best one’ from the batting point of view, and people following the series will agree. As such, Aiden Markram and Hamilton Masakadza are the only two batsmen to have held their own so far, the South Africa opener with 27 and 35 and the Zimbabwe captain with 25 and 27.

For Zimbabwe, Solomon Mire – 0 and 2 – has failed to get going at the top, and the strong-looking middle order of Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Peter Moor and Elton Chigumbura have not been able to stay in long enough to make a difference.

The bowling has been good, but the South African bowling has been better, as one would back an attack headlined by Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn and Andile Phehlukwayo, not to forget the unflagging Tahir. For Zimbabwe, Tendai Chatara – 2/12 and 3/42 – has been the best on show.

South Africa welcome back skipper Faf du Plessis, who has recovered faster than expected from a right shoulder injury. They are, however, without Willem Mulder, and may want to try out a couple of players who haven’t featured in the first two games before the two teams move to their Twenty20 International fixtures. Zimbabwe will hope for a big turnaround but must put runs on the board to give their bowlers a chance.

Key players

Dale Steyn (South Africa): We know what he can do with ball in hand. We didn’t know he could help lift the South African innings from 101/7 to 198. He did that the other day, and joked that it wasn’t him. Awesome as it was, South Africa will hope they don’t have to lean on Steyn the batsman, and the big man will also want to make a big contribution with the ball.

**Hamilton Masakadza (Zimbabwe):**He has looked good at the top of the order without being spectacular, but Masakadza can do it; he has done it before, and can definitely do it again – give Zimbabwe a solid, steady start and set things up for the middle order to explode. That should stand the team in good stead.

Conditions

It should be a nice and clear day, with a few clouds coming in towards the evening. A nice batting strip is what the two teams will be hoping for, and if it’s like the one used for the last ODI played at Boland Park – South Africa v Bangladesh just under a year ago, when AB de Villiers smashed a 104-ball 176 and 602 runs were scored overall – there should be runs.

Squads

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c) Jean-Paul Duminy, Hashim Amla, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Christiaan Jonker, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Khaya Zondo, Dean Elgar

Zimbabwe: Hamilton Masakadza (c), Solomon Mire, Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Peter Moor, Elton Chigumbura, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ngarava, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Wellington Masakadza, Ryan Murray, Tendai Chatara