BULAWAYO: Quinton de Kock tied a One-day International record as South Africa beat Zimbabwe by 61 runs on Tuesday to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

The 21-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman made 38 to equal the mark of England’s Jonathan Trott in reaching the landmark of 1,000 runs in only 21 one-day games.

Faf du Plessis top-scored with 55 as South Africa were bowled out for 257 after being put in to bat.

It was only the third time in 34 ODI meetings that Zimbabwe had bowled out their southern African rivals.

Out-of-form South Africa captain A.B. de Villiers was involved in a bizarre dismissal. He missed a delivery from spinner Prosper Utseya and, in the mistaken belief that Richmond Mutumbami did the same, set off for a single only for the bemused wicket-keeper to run him out for one.

Sean Williams (55) then passed 50 for the second successive match but Zimbabwe were bowled out for 196 in 49.1 overs.

Paceman Wayne Parnell took three for 28 while all-rounder Ryan McLaren picked up three for 21.

Earlier, Zimbabwe spinners gave their side a chance of a shock victory. After Proteas openers Hashim Amla and de Kock made another promising start, Utseya, John Nyumbu and Williams took wickets at regular intervals to dismiss the Proteas in 49.4 overs.

On a drier surface than the one used in South Africa’s 93-run victory on Sunday, it was no surprise that the spinners had success as they found significant turn.

Nyumbu was the first to strike as he bowled Amla to end a 47-run stand for the first wicket, and then had De Kock caught at cover for 38.

When de Villiers was dismissed, South Africa had slid to 60-3. Du Plessis and J.P. Duminy revived the innings with a partnership of 69, before Utseya bowled Duminy for 36 and had Du Plessis.

South Africa still looked set for a big total when David Miller began to find the boundary, hitting two huge sixes, but his innings was cut short when he was controversially given out lbw for 45 as he advanced down the pitch to left-arm seamer Brian Vitori.

Although Parnell and Kyle Abbott boosted the Proteas score with some breezy hitting in a stand of 41, left-arm spinner Williams returned to grab two wickets at the death and return figures of 2-37. Utseya finished with 2-39 from his 10 overs, and Nyumbu took 2-44.

The final match is also in Bulawayo on Thursday before South Africa and Zimbabwe are joined by Australia for a triangular series that stars in Harare on Monday.

Scoreboard SOUTH AFRICA:

Q. de Kock c Chigumbura b Nyumbu 38 H.M. Amla b Nyumbu 15 F. du Plessis c Chigumbura b Utseya 55 A.B. de Villiers run out 1 J.P. Duminy b Utseya 36 D.A. Miller lbw b Vitori 45 R. McLaren c Chigumbura b Vitori 4 W.D. Parnell c Williams b Madziva 24 K.J. Abbott c Sikander b Williams 23 A.M. Phangiso c Nyumbu b Williams 2 Imran Tahir not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-7, W-7) 14

TOTAL (all out, 49.4 overs) 257

FALL OF WKTS: 1-47, 2-59, 3-60, 4-129, 5-169, 6-204, 7-211, 8-252, 9-257.

BOWLING: Vitori 9-0-57-2 (2w); Utseya 10-1-39-2 (2w); Madziva 5-0-27-1; Nyumbu 10-0-44-2; Jongwe 2-0-20-0 (2w); Sikandar Raza 2-0-15-0’ Williams 9.4-0-37-2; Chigumbura 2-0-11-0.

ZIMBABWE:

H. Masakadza b Parnell 7 R. Mutumbami lbw b Phangiso 12 Sikandar Raza b McLaren 0 B.R.M. Taylor c Miller b Duminy 14 S.C. Williams c Parnell b McLaren 55 E. Chigumbura c Duminy b Parnell 7 L.M. Jongwe c Amla b McLaren 6 P. Utseya lbw b Parnell 15 N. Madziva b Imran 25 J. Nyumbu c de Kock b Imran 18 B.V. Vitori not out 20

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-8, W-6, NB-1) 17

TOTAL (all out, 49.1 overs) 196

FALL OF WKTS: 1-21, 2-21, 3-26, 4-45, 5-59, 6-88, 7-114, 8-134, 9-175.

BOWLING: Abbott 8-2-19-0; Parnell 9-2-28-3 (1nb, 4w); Phangiso 8-2-34-1; McLaren 8-0-21-3 (2w); Duminy 7-0-58-1; Imran Tahir 9.1-1-26-2.

RESULT: South Africa won by 61 runs.

UMPIRES: O. Chirombe (Zimbabwe) and C.B. Gaffaney (New Zealand).

TV UMPIRE: R.B. Tiffin (Zimbabwe).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Wayne Parnell.

FIRST MATCH: Bulawayo, South Africa won by 93 runs.

THIRD MATCH: Bulawayo, Thursday.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2014