The 3-0 loss in ODI series against South Africa was as expected. It was against a vulnerable South African side also didn’t help them much in showing any improvement. Only in the second match, they triggered a batting collapse in the South African lineup. However, Dale Steyn made his comeback to ODI a memorable one with the maiden half-century in his career. Zimbabwe was back with a decent display of batting in the third game but wasn’t enough to avoid a whitewash in the series.
Two teams will be back again on the field for a different format as they start the T20 leg of the tour. For Zimbabwe, it is another opportunity to improve their game irrespective of the format. They had lost all the T20 games played this year. A team which is struggling with some of the key players not available for various reasons may consider tournament as another stepping stone towards improvement. They may not be expecting to beat South Africa which has quality T20 players, but an improved show will be expected from the team.
South Africa too had a roller coaster series so far and will take this series as preparation towards the world cup. Their bowling was up to the mark, but batting displayed the issues which they may need to sort out before the showpiece event in England in 2019. The batting collapse in the second match and the inconsistencies will add a lot of problems to the team management. Faf du Plessis, de Kock, and Miller are making a comeback to the side and will add more stability to the batting line up which already boasts of a top class bowling.
The first of the three-match series will be played at Buffalo Park, East London. The second and third match is scheduled to play at Potchefstroom and Benoni.
