J Nyumbu Takes 5 On Debut In One-Off SA vs ZIM Test At Harare

When you don’t get chances, you create them. At the start of the one-off  Test Match between Zimbabwe and South Africa,who hold the number 1 spot in Tests presently, every Zimbabwe fan would have hoped for at least a tough fight from their heroes by their nation. This isn’t something they get to see often.

The match started with the home team winning the toss and electing to bat first. Not many would have hoped that Zimbabwe would cross the 250 mark against the likes of Steyn and Morkel, but they did and they did it well. H Mazakadza(45) and their captain BRM Taylor ensured that Zimbabwe posed a respectable total on the board. An inspired innings from their Captain ensured that the South Africans couldn’t rip through the so called weak batting line-up of Zimbabwe. Taylor was unlucky to miss out on a century but he very strongly laid the foundation for his bowlers to come and bowl their hearts out. Finally Zimbabwe managed to finish on 256 which was not so bad considering the fact that a major batting order collapse occurred when the formidable Indian batting line-up of Team India failed to impress in the 4th test against the English.

Now it was in the hands of the bowlers to bowl in good areas and prevent South Africa from taking a mighty lead. It all started when the debutante spin bowler John Nyumbu forced Peterson (32) to play an awkward paddle sweep down the leg which made him cost his wicket. D Elgar went for a well-made 61 which laid a solid foundation for De Villiers and H Amla to cash upon, but to everybody’s surprise,both players went early creating a bit of drama in the middle. De Kock(81) and F du Plessis(98) took South Africa out from danger by laying a solid partnership of 119 runs between them. This partnership affected the run rate as South Africa crept along slowly at a rate of 2.39 runs per over. The duo along with JP Duminy(55) lead the team to a lead of 141 before the Star Performer J Nyumbu took a fifer(5-157) in his debut match.

SA however will be disappointed on not getting a bigger lead and of course Faf for not getting his hundred. Zimbabwe are one down already and unless and until their batsman put some heavy runs on the board their defeat is inevitable.

Will their second-innings resistance be better than their first? Only time will tell.