Ngidi spearheads Proteas to five-wicket win over Zim
Lungi Ngidi continued the impressive start he has made to his first year of One-Day International cricket by spearheading the Proteas to a five-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the opening Momentum ODI at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Sunday.
In a low-scoring match Ngidi picked up the Momentum Man of the Match award for his figures of 3/19 in 8.1 overs as Zimbabwe were bundled out for their lowest total against South Africa of 117 after being sent into bat on a pitch of inconsistent bounce that was exploited by the seam bowlers on both sides.
In addition, there was purchase available for the spinners who also got into the wickets column.
The Zimbabwe innings lasted only 34.1 overs while the Proteas needed just 26.1 overs to complete their victory chase.
Heinrich Klaasen built on the favourable impression that he created in his debut series against India earlier this year (average of 36 and strike rate of 90) to make easily the top score of the match of a career best 44 (44 balls, 5 fours and 2 sixes) with only three other batsmen in the match getting into the 20s. He was eventually caught in the deep going for a third successive six but by that time the match was finished as a contest.
Along with Ngidi, he was probably the one player on the fringes of the Proteas first choice squad who did the most to improve his chances of World Cup selection. This is particularly so, bearing in mind the back-up wicketkeeping skills to Quinton de Kock he provides as well.
Ngidi has now taken 21 wickets in only 9 matches at an average of 20.19 and has taken three or more wickets in four of those matches. The Zimbabwe batsmen were not able to cope with the new ball menace that he and Kagiso Rabada provided and they, in turn, were well backed up by Andile Phehlukwayo and Wiaan Mulder.
There was also an impressive showing from Imran Tahir who looks to have added further variation to his already formidable arsenal.
When the Proteas batted, they were also tested by the Zimbabwe seamers, the best of whom was Tendai Chatara who had a single spell of 2/12 in 6 overs. The conditions were hardly ideal for the aggressive brand of batting the Proteas are endeavouring to produce.
The Proteas will be happy to get off the mark in this three-match series. Remarkably, for the first time since the early days of unity, Zimbabwe fielded a substantially more experienced team than the 11 players the Proteas put on the field. JP Duminy, who scored his 5 000th ODI run and became the 9th Protea to reach this mark, was the only South Africa in the game with more than 100 caps with Imran Tahir and Rabada the only other two with more than 50. Zimbabwe had four centurions in their line-up.
The second match takes place at Bloemfontein’s Mangaung Oval on Wednesday and the final one at Eurolux Boland Park on Saturday.