South Africa vs Zimbabwe, 3rd Match, Pool B - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

While South Africa turned in a mixed performance in the two warm-ups leading up to to their opening World Cup match, they will put that aside and aim for a bright start to their campaign when they take on Zimbabwe. Proteas beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in a rain-curtailed contest before New Zealand, one of the pre-tournament favourites, brought them down several pegs by inflicting a 134-run defeat. The latter performance indicated amply that the South Africans haven't completely cast off their habit of absolutely falling apart on a bad day.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe, the 10th ranked ODI nation, will be approaching the game with a lot of confidence of back of their fine showing in the warm-ups. They left co-hosts New Zealand in a lot of trouble at 157/7 before rain had the final say in their first practice match. A few days later, the Elton-Chigumbura led side shocked Sri Lanka by chasing down 280, thanks to an attacking century from Hamilton Masakadza.

One team is considered as one of the favourites of the tournament; the other isn't good enough to deserve consideration. Be that as it may, come Sunday when South Africa play their neighbours Zimbabwe in the Pool B match at Hamilton's Seddon Park, there would be no dearth of excitement among expatriates from both countries.

South Africa could have suffered another setback when Chatara struck Hashim Amla on the pads in the 8th over. The umpire sided with the Zimbabweans, but Amla's review showed that the ball was bouncing higher than the stumps. The stylish right-hander's luck only till the end of that over. Tinashe Panyangara got an in-dipper to squeeze through Amla's defences and peg back the off-stump, leaving South Africa in trouble at 21/2.

Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers helped South Africa put the innings back on track with a confident stand. The duo looked to set themselves a solid platform before going for big hits later on. However, just as the pair looked to step on the gas, Elton Chigumbura struck for Zimbabwe. It turned out a rather lucky wicket, with Faf feathering an edge down the leg side.

The Faf du Plessis dismissal may be attributed to luck, but the following AB de Villiers wicket soon after was down to pure skill. The South Africa captain stepped out and smashed Tafadzwa Kamungozi towards the long-off fence. It looked to be another six for the right-hander but Craig Ervine plucked the ball inches inside the rope before tossing it up in the air and catching the ball after he made his way back over the boundary ropes.

The wicket plunged South Africa into deep trouble and they will hope for JP Duminy and David Miller to bail them out.

The left-hander brought up a hundred soon after and went on to punish the bowlers further. Solomon Mire was tonked for 30 runs in a single over as South Africa went past 300. They had scored their last 50 runs off just 16 deliveries.

Following in the footsteps of David Miller, JP Duminy nothced up his hundred in the final over. He used the remaining four of the five deliveries he faced to slam 13 more runs as South Africa ended with a mammoth 339/4. The duo had shared an unbeaten 179-ball 256-run stand - creating a record for the highest ever fifth wicket stand in ODIs.

South Africa's pyrotechnics is the final 5 overs had brought them a massive 96 runs, helping them score the third 300+ score for teams batting first in as many games this World Cup.

Miller ended with an unbeaten 138 in his maiden World Cup appearance, while JP Duminy racked up 115.

Chasing 340, Zimbabwe made a bright start with Chimu Chabhabha dominating the scoring. The right-hander was particularly severe on Morne Morkel, smashing the lanky pacer for three boundaries in a single over. Raza, on the other hand, struggled against the Protea attack and was eventually out-foxed by Vernon Philander and found his off-stump uprooted and about six feet from where it was originally placed.

Chibhabha found a more able partner in Hamilton Masakadza and the duo combined to put on a pacy fifty-run stand to lift their side from a spot of bother and put themselves in a position of promise. Chibhabha moved into a more conservative rule while the big-hitting Masakadza stepped in as the aggressor. Masakadza smashed Morkel for two consecutive boundaries before repeating the act in the next over off JP Duminy.

Chibhabha brought up his 10th ODI fifty in the 19th over of the innings.

He got to his fifty by hitting Steyn for a six over long-on, and followed that up with a fine struck four two balls later. In Steyn's next over, Masakadza continued the big hits and hit the pacer spearhead for two consecutive boundaries.

His relentless attack caught the World Cup hopefuls by surprise and they will be hoping for someone to get the prized wicket of Masakadza before he hurts more top bowlers' ego.

In the end South Africa's class stood out. That and their ability to come out trumps in important situations helped them keep a fighting Zimbabwe at bay and eventually claim a 62-run win. Masakadza, Chibhabha and Brendon Taylor's performances with the bat stood out, but they will want to ensure they have a player who can carry on and make a bigger contribution in the games to follow.

Zimbabwe might have lost this game, but they shouldn't lose hope. The way they are playing, they can well cause an upset in the next few games. They proved it when they had NZ on the mat in the first warm-up, defeated Sri Lanka in the second and put up a spirited performance today. On the other hand, South Africa will know that they managed to win the game, but it was not that convincing. Their top-order completely failed today and the way Steyn took a beating, they need to pull their socks up if they are to win the World Cup.