Times Media
TELFORD VICE, Harare
SO, it has come to this in the one-off test between Zimbabwe and SA in Harare: a fourth day. Who would have thought?
On Monday, as they did on Sunday, SA’s batsmen did not to stamp their authority on proceedings. Instead, they eked out a lead that reached 141 before they were dismissed for 397 in reply to Zimbabwe’s first innings of 256. In the 13 overs of their second innings Zimbabwe faced before stumps, they wobbled to 28/1 - still 113 runs in the red.
If SA bowl and field like the No. 1 team they officially are, victory could be theirs today. But, if Zimbabwe show the pluck that made their first innings a joy to watch and nothing like SA’s 1000-mile march, a mismatch that should not have lasted much more than two days will inch into a once unthinkable fifth.
To say SA batted slowly on Monday is to point out that politicians are people, too. They are, but all resemblance between them and the likes of us is fleeting.
SA resumed on 201/4 and scored 196 runs in the 74.3 overs they faced: a runrate of just more than 2.6. Faf du Plessis took 264 balls to make 98, and JP Duminy consumed 134 for his 55.
Quinton de Kock, bless him, showed some understanding for the fact that cricket is, at least in part, an entertainment with his far brighter 81 off 152 deliveries.
Thanks to De Kock, the stand of 119 he shared with Du Plessis for the fifth wicket was not entirely unwatchable.
The dry, dour pitch was a black hole from which runs did not easily escape, and Zimbabwe’s bowlers were tenacious. Tinashe Panyangara toiled wicketless but watertight in conceding 39 runs in 30 overs. Off-spinner John Nyumbu, meanwhile, became only the second Zimbabwean debutant after Andy Blignaut to claim five wickets in an innings on debut with his haul of 5/157 from 49.3 overs.
Nyumbu said AB de Villiers, freshly dethroned by Kumar Sangakkara as the top ranked test batsman, was his favourite victim: “It’s an honour to bowl to the best batsman in the world. It’s an even bigger honour to get him out.”
Zimbabwe did a fine job with limited resources, but most of SA’s batsmen approached their task as if they were facing Allan Donald and Muttiah Muralitharan on the fifth day of a match played in a war zone.
“It doesn’t always have to look pretty - you have to do the hard yards,” Du Plessis said. “It doesn’t look like the No. 1 team in the world, but we have a plan.
“It’s frustrating when the ball hits the bottom of your bat 60% of the time. Zimbabwe have played some good cricket, but we are where we want to be.”
Which was not quite Zimbabwe coach Stephen Mangongo’s take on proceedings: “After 10 months not playing test cricket and playing against the No. 1 team in the world, the boys have acquitted themselves well.
“It’s not a case of SA not having batted well; Zimbabwe bowled magnificently.”
And there was no way he was willing to concede that his team would go quietly into the good night of the last two days.
“SA batting last will be interesting,” Mangongo said.
Will it? The way SA have batted so far in this match, that is a compliment.
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