South Africa Crush Zimbabwe In Second T20I To Seal Series

South Africa thrashed Zimbabwe by six wickets in the second T20I to seal the three-match series with a match to go.

The win was set up by the South Africa bowlers who never allowed Zimbabwe batsmen to find their rhythm. Batting first, the visitors managed to put up just 132 for 7 with Sean Williams’ 41 being the highest score. On a pitch which offered variable bounce, the Zimbabwe batsmen rarely looked at ease.

The start was a mixed one for the tourists. While Dane Paterson sent back Solomon Mire for just 1 in the second over, Hamilton Masakadza struck a couple of eye-catching sixes off Lungi Ngidi to get the innings going. However, the road soon became tough for Zimbabwe as the Proteas pacers tightened up the screw.

Paterson, Robert Frylinck and Andile Phehlukwayo bowled a good line and varied their pace to create all sorts of problems for the opposition. By the time the seventh over ended, they were reeling at 39 for 3.

Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams then added 29 to steady the ship. However, just when it looked the two have understood the pitch, Taylor fell in an effort to up the scoring rate. With the pacers giving nothing away, Taylor tried to hit spinner Tabraiz Shasmi out of the part but perished. On the other hand, Williams managed to succeed in his attempt to target the spinner. The southpaw hit three sixes in Shamsi’s final over before falling for 41. And Zimbabwe’s hopes of posting a competitive total ended with Williams’ departure.

In reply, South Africa were off to a shaky start. Their highest-scorer of the last game Rassie van der Dussen could score only 13.  But his opening partner Quinton de Kock kept the Proteas on a track with his sensible batting. At the end of the powerplay, South Africa raced away to 51 for 1.

But Zimbabwe soon clawed their way back in the game by dismissing de Kock and skipper Faf du Plessis to reduce the hosts to 58 for 3 from 51 for 1. However, they could not build on those two dismissals as South Africa comfortably chased down the total.

JP Duminy and Heinrich Klassen added 44 off just 29 to kill off Zimbabwe. The hosts eventually won the game with 26 balls to spare.

Brief scores:

South Africa 135 for 4 (Duminy 33*, de Kock 26, Williams 2-25) beat Zimbabwe 132 for 7 (Williams 41, Frylinck 2-20, Paterson 2-22) by six wickets