South Africa begin their World Cup 2015 campaign with a game against Zimbabwe on Sunday at the Seddon Park in Hamilton and you can follow the live scores of this match from 12:00 noon AEDT.
It has been a curious start for South Africa.
Known to begin strongly in World Cups before falling apart in the knock-outs, South Africa haven’t had that air of invincibility they did in some of the previous editions.
In their first warm-up game against Sri Lanka, they allowed their opponents to get to what could have been a 300-plus score had the entire 50 overs been played. Rain ensured their opponents batted for less than 45 overs and South Africa chased down their reduced total according to the Duckworth-Lewis system.
Their showing against New Zealand was nothing less than shocking.
The Kiwis pounded them for 331 in their 50 overs and then bowled them out for a measly 197 in reply, therefore ensuring questions will be asked about their performances, especially given they enter the competition as close second behind Australia.
It’s probably a South African game-plan, a bid to peak at the right time rather than come out in the tournament with full force only to capitulate at a time when they need to excel.
However, South Africa need to be a tad wary of the form that the underdogs Zimbabwe are showing. Under a new coach, Dav Whatmore, Zimbabwe made life difficult for the New Zealand batsmen in their first warm-up game and then surprised Sri Lanka in the second.
However, Zimbabwe did surprise South Africa in the 1999 World Cup after having lost to them in the 1992 edition. Those were the only two times they met in World Cup cricket.
In turn, they have exhibited the best of both worlds – bowled superbly in the New Zealand game and chased down 280 in the Sri Lanka encounter – to put themselves into contention of surprising a team or two.
While beating South Africa will be a gulf too wide to transverse, they can look to try and take positives from the game. And to do that, they will hope to remain in the contest for long enough.
The head to head between these two teams is one of total domination. South Africa have won 34 and lost just two matches to Zimbabwe in their ODI history, with their last defeat coming 15 years ago.
You can follow the live scores of this South Africa vs Zimbabwe World Cup 2015 encounter from 12:00 noon AEDT on Sunday and post your comments in the section below.
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