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…figuratively speaking, of course. After two Zimbabwe Select series where, one match excepted you wonder why the home team bothered to turn up, the 1st ODI against South Africa was actually a reasonable contest. Once again Zimbabwe’s batsmen let them down, but when defending a comparatively small total they looked keen and made South Africa work for their win. Given recent form, who could ask for more?

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat, but as ever things didn’t go according to plan. Opener Vusi Sibanda started well enough, but sloppy batting and some poor running decisions left Zim struggling on 72/7 at one point and looking in danger of failing to make 100. The arrival of Elton Chigumbura and Gary Brent marked the beginning of Zim’s comeback, though, as the pair put on 115 for the 8th wicket - beginning with some cautious nudging for judicious 1s and 2s, before beginning to open up as their confidence built. Chigumbura has always been capable with the bat, given the mindset and opportunity, and this match was the first in a while where he really showed what he was capable of. Chigumbura was eventually run out for 59 (187/8), while Brent hung around to claim his first ODI 50, ending the innings on 59 not out and helping Zim to a moderately-respectable 206.

South Africa’s reply got off to a very poor start when Loots Bosman was dismissed for a duck on the 4th ball of the innings, but that was a bit of a false dawn for Zim as Graeme Smith and Gulam Bodi set about chasing down their target of 207. To their credit, Zimbabwe were energetic in the field and some decent bowling made sure that South Africa were never able to really open up - they scored at or around the required rate for most of the innings - and regular wickets made sure that Zimbabwe at least remained in the chase. A few dropped catches proved decisive, though, and come the final overs, with wickets still in hand, South Africa were able to finish off the job. Bodi claimed a 50 on his ODI debut, while Gary Brent was impressive with the ball, outdoing Prosper Utseya in the parsimony stakes, conceding 3.11/over.

In short: good bowling, but Zim need to work on wicket-taking ability, and their batting is still very suspect. Overall, though, not the disgrace many were expecting. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe 206 (50 overs; Chigumbura 59, Brent 59*, Philander 2/15), South Africa 210/5 (46.5 overs; de Villiers 63, Utseya 2/32). South Africa win by 5 wickets, lead series 1-0 with 2 to play.

Zimbabwe innings
V Sibanda	c Smith b Pollock	                15
H Masakadza	run out (Ntini)	                        8
BRM Taylor	run out (Bodi/de Villiers)	        19
T Taibu	        c de Villiers b Morkel	                22
SC Williams	c Pollock b Philander	                0
S Matsikenyeri	b Philander	                        0
E Chigumbura	run out (de Villiers)	                59
P Utseya	run out (Duminy/Ntini/Bosman)	        0
GB Brent	not out	                                59
T Maruma	lbw b van der Wath	                7
CB Mpofu	run out (Bosman/de Villiers)	        1
	    Extras	(lb 5, w 11)	                16
	    Total	(all out; 50 overs; 215 mins)	206

Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Sibanda, 4.6 ov), 2-28 (Masakadza, 9.3 ov),
3-68 (Taibu, 18.6 ov), 4-71 (Williams, 21.4 ov),
5-71 (Matsikenyeri, 21.5 ov), 6-72 (Taylor, 22.5 ov),
7-72 (Utseya, 23.5 ov), 8-187 (Chigumbura, 47.5 ov),
9-196 (Maruma, 49.2 ov), 10-206 (Mpofu, 49.6 ov)

Bowling	        O	M	R	W	Econ
SM Pollock	8	1	25	1	3.12	(1w)
M Ntini	        8	1	32	0	4.00
M Morkel	10	1	33	1	3.30	(5w)
JJ van der Wath	9	0	59	1	6.55	(2w)
VD Philander	8	2	15	2	1.87
GH Bodi	1	0	8	0	8.00
T Tshabalala	6	0	29	0	4.83	(3w)

South Africa innings
GC Smith	c & b Chigumbura	                        50
LL Bosman	c Taibu b Mpofu	                                0
GH Bodi	        c Taibu b Utseya	                        51
AB de Villiers	run out (Williams/Taibu)	                63
JP Duminy	lbw b Utseya	                                3
SM Pollock	not out	                                        16
VD Philander	not out	                                        17
	    Extras	(lb 5, w 3, nb 2)	                10
	    Total	(5 wickets; 46.5 overs; 187 mins)	210

Did not bat: JJ van der Wath, M Morkel, M Ntini, T Tshabalala 

Fall of wickets1-1 (Bosman, 0.4 ov), 2-73 (Smith, 17.5 ov),
3-147 (Bodi, 35.1 ov), 4-155 (Duminy, 37.4 ov),
5-190 (de Villiers, 44.1 ov)

Bowling	        O	M	R	W	Econ
CB Mpofu	8	0	39	1	4.87	(1w)
GB Brent	9	3	28	0	3.11
E Chigumbura	8	0	40	1	5.00	(1nb, 2w)
P Utseya	10	0	32	2	3.20	(1nb)
H Masakadza	2	0	15	0	7.50
T Maruma	9.5	0	51	0	5.18