South Africa cruise o victory

South Africa cruised to a 45-run victory over Zimbabwe Sunday in a one-day international designed to dust away cobwebs ahead of a tour by England that begins in five days.

A patient 80 from Hashim Amla spearheaded the Proteas to 295-5 off 50 overs at Willowmoore Park where scorching morning heat gave way to rain and a 40-minute delay before the game drifted to an inevitable conclusion.

Reeling at 48-5, Zimbabwe staged a magnificent recovery thanks to a record 188-run partnership against South Africa between wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu (103 not out) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (86) and they were 250-6 by the close.

Man-of-the-match Taibu faced 112 balls and struck six fours and three sixes in a display that thrilled him and left South Africa coach Mickey Arthur and skipper Graeme Smith with some head scratching to do over the bowling. Smith blamed the rain interruption.

“We were fantastic for 80 overs and then the rain delay upset our rhythm. I believe we can take a lot more positives than negatives from the game,” said Smith. Runs flowed freely at the start and finish of the South Africa innings, but they went 54 balls without a boundary in between as veteran Zimbabwe spinner Ray Price caused discomfort with a three-wicket haul.

BENONI, South Africa, Monday, AFP

SOUTH AFRICA

H. Amla c Vermeulen b Cremer			80
G. Smith c Mpofu b Price			35
AB de Villiers c Vermeulen b Price		51
M. Boucher c Vermeulen b Price			18
A. Petersen c Cremer b Chibhabha 		39
A. Morkel not out				50
R. McLaren not out				 6

EXTRAS (lb3, w13)				16
TOTAL (5 wkts, 50 overs)			295
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-67 (Smith), 2-157 (De Villiers), 3-185 (Amla), 4-202 (Boucher), 5-288 (Petersen)
BOWLING: Mpofu 10-0-70-0 (3w), Chibhabha 9-0-64-1 (1w), Price 10-0-44-3 (2w),
 Utseya 10-0-59-0, Cremer 10-0-47-1 (1w), Matsikenyeri 1-0-8-0 

ZIMBABWE

M. Vermeulen c Amla b Tsotsobe			 8
C. Chibhabha lbw b McLaren			21
H. Masakadza c Boucher b Steyn			11
B. Taylor c Boucher b McLaren			 2
T. Taibu not out				103
E. Chigumbura b Steyn				 4
S. Matsikenyeri b McLaren			86
G. Cremer not out				 1

EXTRAS (b1, lb5, w8)				14
TOTAL (6 wkts, 50 overs)			250
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-11 (Vermeulen), 2-35 (Chibhabha), 3-40 (Taylor), 
4-44 (Masakadza), 5-48 (Chigumbura), 6-236 (Matsikenyeri) 
BOWLING: Steyn 10-0-51-2 (2w), Tsotsobe 8-0-41-1 (1w), Langeveldt 8-0-33-0 (1w), 
McLaren 10-0-51-3 (2w), Botha 10-1-41-0 (1w), Morkel 4-0-27-0 (1w)

South Africa won by 45 runs