Zimbabwe vs. South Africa, 2014 Triangular Series: Scorecard, Highlights, Report

South Africa warmed up for the triangular series final against Australia in Zimbabwe with a 63-run win over the hosts at the Harare Sports Club.

The Proteas went in to bat first on Zimbabwe's request, and with the exception of Faf du Plessis, who scored a scintillating 121, they laboured, eventually posting 271-6 in their 50 overs.

In response Zimbabwe fell behind and despite an impressive 79 from skipper Brendan Taylor, they ultimately fell well short.

Saturday's final will be no surprise, but could go either way with both teams winning and losing against each other in the round-robin stage.

South Africa looked as if they might struggle again on Thursday, with their opening duo of Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock both out with 24 on the scoreboard.

Thereafter it was a slow repair job, with Rilee Roussouw finally scoring his first ODI runs after two ducks in his first two innings.

Elsewhere, there was another needless run out for AB de Villiers, while JP Duminy was the only player able to provide meaningful support with his half-century.

But this was, once again, the story of Du Plessis. His century was his third in four games, and oozed class and confidence while others struggled. His hot vein of form will surely be on Australia's minds going into the final.

By the time he'd fallen after five fours and four sixes, the total had been propped up into something more defendable, and so it proved.

Batsman	Dismissal	Bowler	Runs	Mins	Balls
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Sibanda	run out (de Villiers)		11	22	15
Raza	c Miller	b Parnell	29	32	32
H Masakadza	c de Villiers	b M Morkel	26	38	33
Taylor		b Duminy	79	156	96
Williams	c Amla	b Duminy	3	13	14
Chigumbura	c Miller	b Rossouw	13	31	32
Waller	c de Kock	b Phangiso	17	32	22
Utseya	c Amla	b Steyn	0	5	3
Madziva	run out (Miller)		3	11	11
Chatara	not out		10	34	20
Nyumbu	lbw	b Duminy	4	6	7
Extras	1nb 11w 0b 1lb	13
Total	all out (47.2 ovs)	208
Steyn	8.0	1	24	1
Duminy	8.2	0	35	3
M Morkel	8.0	0	41	1
Parnell	8.0	0	39	1
Phangiso	10.0	0	38	1
Rossouw	3.0	0	17	1
de Villiers	2.0	0	13	0

Zimbabwe have talent, no doubt, but despite all the top four getting starts, only Taylor managed to go beyond 30.

Dale Steyn gave nothing away after getting some treatment from Mitchell Marsh in his previous outing, while the use of spinner JP Duminy as an opening bowler paid off, with his off-breaks picking up 3-35.

While Taylor stood firm there was a glimmer of hope, but the carnage around him told a different story. He came in at 46-2, exiting at 202-9, telling a story of a lack of support.

Batsman	Dismissal	Bowler	Runs	Mins	Balls
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
de Kock	c Taylor	b Chatara	2	3	4
Amla	c Chigumbura	b Madziva	14	31	22
du Plessis	c Chigumbura	b Nyumbu	121	188	140
Rossouw		b Williams	36	54	39
de Villiers	run out (Nyumbu)		16	22	18
Duminy	c and b Madziva		51	71	62
Miller	not out		10	17	9
Parnell	not out		10	10	6
Extras	0nb 9w 0b 2lb	11
Total	for 6 (50.0 ovs)	271
Chatara	6.0	0	31	1
Madziva	6.0	0	53	2
Nyumbu	8.0	0	53	1
Williams	10.0	1	38	1
Utseya	10.0	0	55	0
Waller	10.0	0	39	0

The hosts have had good exposure to two top sides during the tournament, and even stunned Australia earlier in the competition, but still seem some way off being able to compete against the best on a consistent basis.