Zimbabwe had hoped to negate Dale Steyn and co by providing one of the drier surfaces at Harare Sports Club but the conditions ended up assisting debutant offspinner Dane Piedt, who became the 19th bowler in Tests to strike off his first delivery.
Replacing Imran Tahir, he derived turn and bounce to pose a consistent threat and possibly offer South Africa what they want - a spinner who can control an end. But Brendan Taylor, for over four hours, was the bulk of Zimbabwe's resistance and ensured honours were even at stumps.
A lacklustre start had prompted him to wait with his full gear in the dressing room as early as the 10th over. His determination helped blunt Steyn's reverse swing, Morne Morkel's bouncers and Piedt's probing to drag his flagging side to end the day on a respectable note.
Fearing that he would run out of partners, his scavenging for quick runs robbed him of a well-deserved century. Harare agreed, returning their captain to the dressing room with warm applause and hooting of horns. The Zimbabwean tail mustered some fight, had a little fun along the way with Tendai Chatara spanking 22 off 26 balls, and reached stumps with one wicket standing.
Zimbabwe had opted to bat and had looked uncertain against the new ball and lost Vusi Sibanda in the third over to Steyn.
The wobble seemed at its end when Hashim Amla tossed the ball to the spinner in the 16th over and Piedt outwitted Mark Vermeulen with alarming turn. Vermeulen was putting behind a 10-year hiatus from Test cricket, slowly reacquainting himself with his off stump after playing and missing. He began to look confident, especially off the back foot, but that became his undoing as the offspinner got one to rip back in to strike the pads and surprise the batsman.
It wasn't the only time Piedt surprised a batsman. Hamilton Masakadza had bedded himself in during the morning session and began taking advantage after lunch. He struck two fours in the first three overs after lunch to enable the hosts to race along at five per over but his scrapping came to an end when Piedt, going around the wicket, looped one across on off stump and jagged it back between bat and pad.
Though his celebrations did pale to Tahir's, his bowling was a marked improvement. He did get another opportunity to work on his fist-pumping technique when Regis Chakabva tamely chipped to short midwicket in the same over and Zimbabwe were back in a rut again.
Taylor would not let Piedt have his way for too long, and scored 41 runs in 61 balls. He hugged the crease against balls that weren't tossed up and clipped him behind square leg and when he saw some flight, he lunged forward and swept. However, as soon as that challenge was done Steyn steamed in and discovered reverse swing.
It was the 41st over of the match and the impact was almost immediate with Sean Williams sucked into a full awayswinger to go past Malcolm Marshall's 376 wickets. Williams looked peeved when the umpire judged him caught behind, believing he had not nicked it. But the one-off Test did not have DRS.
Yet Taylor was resolute. He was part of the first fifty partnership of the innings with Masakadza and led another one with Richmond Mutumbami. Both batsmen were peppered with the short ball by Morkel and Mutumbami was put under particular duress, with one zipping past his chest while he tried to fend in the 55th over.
But the sixth-wicket pair - the last recognised batting pair - was game for a fight, lasting more than 22 overs. Steyn's pace and reverse swing broke through the resistance, however the umpire had failed to spot an inside edge when he judged Mutumbami lbw.
Taylor realised he would not have company for too long and began farming the strike. He cut Piedt to the point boundary in the 64th over, drilled Steyn through the covers and upper cut him in the next to demonstrate the home side still had a pulse.
That suffered somewhat when he slogged JP Duminy to deep midwicket but debutant Donald Tiripano, who has a first-class century, and Chatara added 26 in 33 balls for the ninth wicket. Tiripano was out caught behind off Steyn and it was a beauty - angled in, veered away, squared the batsman up but did not take the edge, as the umpire had thought.
South Africa tried everything - Steyn bowled from wide of the crease and to add further threat to his awayswingers but the outside edge, when found, did not carry or squirted wide of the cordon. Vernon Philander teased outside off, Piedt had a chance to claim a five-for but he fluffed a return catch from Tiripano. However, Tiripano and John Nyumbu, the third man playing a first Test, survived to keep the No.1-ranked Test side, with, the no.1 batsman, bowler and allrounder, waiting on the no. 9-ranked side.
Tea Zimbabwe 165 for 5 (Taylor 60*, Mutumbami 15*, Piedt 3-61) v South Africa
South Africa were intent to safeguard their reputation as the most successful tourists (in terms of win-loss ratio) over the past decade. They are the No.1-ranked team and fielded the no.1-ranked batsman, bowler and allrounder in the XI to enable the expected narrative by smothering Zimbabwe. Brendan Taylor held one end with his seventh Test fifty, but was helpless to stop the other leaking wickets.
The hosts had hoped to negate Dale Steyn and co by providing one of the drier surfaces at Harare Sports Club but it wasn't too much of a challenge for a team that bested two seamer-killing pitches in Sri Lanka. Conditions ended up assisting debutant offspinner Dane Piedt who became the 19th bowler in Tests to strike off his first delivery.
With turn and bounce on offer, the fairy tale continued as he flummoxed Hamilton Masakadza before he could capitalise on his scrappy 45. Two balls later, Regis Chakabva chipped to short midwicket and Steyn, in his third spell, started channeling reverse swing to keep Zimbabwe under the cosh.
Zimbabwe were largely uncertain against the new ball, and Steyn coaxed the outside edge of Vusi Sibanda in the third over and celebrated his 376th wicket in Tests, equalling Malcolm Marshall. Caution was forced on Zimbabwe, not that they threatened with a plan.
Masakadza and Mark Vermeulen, who was fronting up in Tests after 10 years, had to reacquaint themselves with the position of their off stump, poking at a few which could have been left alone. Their first run was found in the fourth over and that tally only increased to eight by the eighth. Just as both batsmen were working past their early struggles, Piedt forced Vermeulen to underestimate the turn and was out lbw.
Things had looked promising after lunch when Masakadza and Taylor hurtled at five to the over after lunch. But the momentum was difficult to maintain, especially when there is a double-strike. Piedt's control was impressive especially when he sneaked through Masakadza's bat and pad to end the only fifty partnership of the innings.
But Taylor combated him well, hugging the crease when the ball wasn't tossed up and lunging to sweep when it was. The Zimbabwe captain had 29 runs from 46 balls, including two fours.
Sean Willliams endured several deliveries whizzing past his outside edge from Piedt, who continued scoring better points than Imran Tahir, the man he replaced.
Zimbabwe's run rate, despite their examination, hovered around four and a partnership seemed on the horizon until Steyn began channeling reverse swing in the 41st over. Cranking his pace up and fishing for the outside edge, he found success though Williams wasn't too pleased when the umpire raised the finger.
Richmond Mutumbami, one of three wicketkeepers in the XI, strode out after Steyn used reverse swing to nip out Sean Williams. His survival plan was to play his shots and drilled a square drive which was of good enough quality to make Steyn grin.
The sixth wicket stand was 45 when the session ended and Taylor would know that tally has to increase considering he and Mutumbami were the last recognised batting pair.
Lunch Zimbabwe 57 for 2 (Masakadza 28*, Taylor 19*) v South Africa
South Africa were intent to safeguard their reputation as the most successful tourists in over the past decade. They are the No.1-ranked team and fielded the no.1-ranked batsman, bowler and allrounder in the XI to enable the expected narrative by smothering Zimbabwe in the morning session. The hosts though would not roll over, with Hamilton Masakadza leading the beginning of a resistance.
Zimbabwe hoped to negate Dale Steyn and co by providing one of the dryer surfaces at Harare Sports Club but it wasn't too much of a challenge for a team that bested two seamer-wilting pitches in Sri Lanka.
Zimbabwe, who had opted to bat, were largely uncertain in the first hour when the ball did swing and Steyn coaxed the outside edge of Vusi Sibanda in the third over and celebrated his 376th wicket in Tests, equalling Malcolm Marshall. Zimbabwe were working past the early strike when debutant offspinner Dane Piedt struck with his first ball and dismissed Mark Vermeulen, who was playing his first Test in 10 years.
Caution was forced on Zimbabwe, not that they threatened with a plan B, by Steyn and Vernon Philander's discipline. Masakadza and Vermeulen had to reacquaint themselves with the position of their off stump, poking at a few which could have been left alone. Their first run was found in the fourth over and that tally only increased to eight by the eighth, besides the loss of Sibanda.
South Africa were allowed to string tight overs together. Vermeulen endured a leg before appeal off the first ball he faced from Philander, who had earlier elicited Masakadza's outside edge but watched it fall short of the four-man cordon. There was indecision with running as well and Zimbabwe could have been two down as early as the 10th over had Quinton de Kock found the target, but a tumbling Vermeulen survived.
Steyn earned some respite after a first spell of 5-3-5-1 but Zimbabwe were not so lucky with Morne Morkel reprising his enforcer role. He hit Vermeulen with a bouncer that did not quite rise but also did not forget the fuller ball. An inswinger had Masakadza playing across the line in the 17th over, but it was dribbling down leg.
Zimbabwe did have brief spurts of activity. Masakadza laced two fours off Morkel in the 12th over - a rasping cover drive off the front foot and an equally solid punch off the other one. Vermeulen enjoyed the shorter length as well, standing up to punch through the off side twice. But the back foot was his undoing when the offspinner Piedt was brought on in the 16th over. He nearly trod on the stumps as he got back to defend and underestimated the turn.
Brendan Taylor, who was seen in full gear in the dressing room as early as the 10th over, joined a reasonably assured Masakadza in the middle and looked to upset Piedt. He skipped down the track to loft him past mid-on and confidently swept him off the last ball before lunch. Should they exhibit the same intent, whether in offence or defence, Zimbabwe could hold out a lot longer than most expect them to.
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