Cricket World Cup 2015: Zimbabwe halted by South Africa after impressive start

South Africa have opened their account with an impressive 62 win over Zimbabwe in the third game of the ensuing cricket World Cup. The proteas won the match after bundling up their neighbours for 277 runs, with 10 balls to spare.

Zimbabwe opened their innings well as they chased down a massive 340-run target posted by South Africa. Brendan Taylor won the toss and chose to field first. Chamu Chibhabha was the pick of the batsmen for Zimbabwe, scoring 64 runs at the top and was joined by Hamilton Masakazda, putting on a 100 run partnership for the first wicket.

The captain ably partnered Hamilton following Chibhabha's departure but their dismissal opened the floodgates for South Africa, who rallied to restrict Zimbabwe below the 300-run mark. The ensuing batsmen failed to live up to expectations but the performance holds Zimbabwe in good light and should give them some much needed confidence going into the latter stages of the tournament.

Among the bowlers, Imran Tahir was the pick of the lot, picking up three wickets at an economy of 3.6 runs in his ten overs, while Vernon Philander picked two in a tight spell.

In the first innings, South Africa had a massive scare as by the 20th over they had lost four wickets and managed to get just 83 runs on the board. However, a brilliant knock from David Miller (135*) and JP Duminy (115*), in an unbeaten partnership that stretched over 200 runs, saw the proteas come back and post a massive target for Zimbabwe.