Zimbabwe lose to South Africa after a brave effort - Pool B saw the 1st match of the World Cup being played between South Africa and Zimbabwe. It was a time when two African countries came together against each other. South Africa is the hot favorites for this world cup while Zimbabwe has proved that this can be the time when they could be the dark horses of the tournament. After winning the toss Zimbabwe decided to field first in the 3rd match of the World cup 2015.
Batting first South Africa lost 2 quick wickets of Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla. The team faced a poor start as they lost 2 more wickets when they reached a total of 83 in 21st over of the game. Zimbabwe was on top of the game as their bowlers made merry on a good bowling track. David Miller and Jean Paul Duminy together started constructing the innings back for the team. They together batted it out and scored stunning 138 and 115 respectively. The game changed in the depth overs when both the batsmen opened their arms and scored runs at their will. The team was able to score 339 runs in their allotted 50 overs of the game.
The target of 340 was a huge one for Zimbabwe but the batsmen applied themselves well from the start. Losing only 2 wickets the team was able to reach a score of 137 runs in 24 overs. Chamu Chibhabha scored 64 runs with some help from Hamilton Masakadza. After losing the wicket of Chibhabha the team didn’t lose its focus as Brendan Taylor too joined in and kept the scoreboard ticking. At one point the Zimbabwe looked well placed on track for the chase. Masakadza after scoring 80 runs lost his wicket leaving his team at 191/3 in 33 overs. In the later overs the team lost its way and after a good start started losing its wicket and Taylor after scoring 40 runs lost his wicket too. The fall of the wicket marked the end of the game for Zimbabwe as they lost all wickets too early and were able to reach only 277 runs. Imran Tahir took 3 wickets and proved to be the bowler who made all the difference in the middle overs. David Miller was named as the man of the match as South Africa won their first match in this edition of World Cup.