Zimbabwe diminished South Africa in the third T20

Zimbabwe 176-4 (Vusi Sibanda 58, Hamilton Masakadza 55, Wayne Parnell 2-33) beat South Africa 147 all out (Colin Ingrim 48, Richard Levi 40, Chris Mpofu 3-20) by 29 runs.

Zimbabwe maintained their dominance in the Zimbabwe Twenty20 Triangular Series with their all-round performance by embarrassing the supreme team South Africa.

Zimbabwe piled up 176 runs with six wickets in hand at the completion of the allotted 20 overs and South Africa was bowled out for 147 runs with four balls to spare.

Chris Mpofu (Zimbabwe) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his lethal bowling spell as he grabbed 3-20 in four overs.

The third match of the Zimbabwe Twenty20 Triangular Series was played on Wednesday, June 20, 2012, at Harare Sports Club.

Earlier, Brendan Taylor, the captain of Zimbabwe, won the toss and opted to bat first on a wicket which looked full of runs. Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza started off well and accumulated 28 runs by the end of the fifth over and added 10 runs in the next over with a couple of fours. They kept on cruising with a reasonable pace and reached at 80 runs when the last ball of the 10^th over was bowled.

Masakadza smashed his fifty in the 12^th over with one six and one four and the openers provided a solid stand of 114 runs in 13.3 overs. Hamilton Masakadza became the first victim after scoring 55 off 39 balls assisted with 1 sixes and 5 fours as Brendan Taylor took guards in the center. Vusi Sibanda tried to accelerate but went back to the pavilion for 58 off 50 deliveries with 2 sixes and 4 fours.

The skipper took over from there and dispatched 2 sixes and even fours in the 17^th and 18^th over and became the fourth success for the visitors. He scored 38 from 21 balls which comprised 2 sixes and 3 fours as Zimbabwe thrashed 176 runs for the loss of just four wickets at the end of the 20^th over.

Wayne Parnell was the main striker with the ball by taking two wickets as Robin Petersen and Marchant de Lange claimed one wicket each.

The skipper of the Proteas, Hashim Amla initiated the innings with the hard hitting Richard Levi and scored 14 runs in the second over with 3 fours but Amla was gone in the next over for 11. Colin Ingrim came in next as Levi punished Kyle Jarvis for 15 runs with the assistance of 1 six and 2 fours in the fourth over. The flow of runs was continued and Ingrim joined with his partner by sending the ball twice out of the ropes in the sixth over.

The second wicket fell at 74 in 8.2 overs when Richard Levi was caught at deep midwicket by Craig Ervine off Prosper Utseya for 40 off 28 balls with 2 sixes and 4 fours. Graeme Cremer surprised the Proteas with two quick wickets in the 10^th over and they were reeling at 4-79. Colin Ingrim held one end as and the wickets kept on sliding from the other as the 14^th over was more productive when 15 runs were gathered.

The Zimbabwe bowlers became unplayable, Carried on clinching the wickets one after another and Colin Ingrim Became the 8^th victim after scoring 48 off balls with 2 sixes and 5 fours. The tail of Proteas vanished without much resistance and their innings was folded back on 147 runs in 19.2 overs.

Chris Mpofu and Graeme Cremer were the supreme bowlers with three wickets each, Richard Muzhange held two whereas Kyle Jarvis and Prosper Utseya shared one wicket each.

Zimbabwe won the match comprehensively with a reasonable margin of 29 runs and is on top of the chart in the competition.

Points attained by three teams after the end of the 3^rd T20:

Zimbabwe    – 4 from 2 matches at a net run rate of +1.000.

South Africa –  2 from 2 matches at a net run rate of +0.250.

Bangladesh   – 0 from 2 matches at a net run rate of -1.250