Zimbabwe cricket players got absolutely demolished by South Africa at Queens Sports Club as the visitors wrapped up victory inside just three days. The home team suffered their worst ever defeat by runs as South Africa crushed them by an innings and 236 runs. The embarrassing loss completed a series whitewash that left Zimbabwean fans shaking their heads in disappointment. South African captain Wiaan Mulder alone scored just 23 runs fewer than Zimbabwe managed across both their innings combined. The humiliation reached new levels when the visitors clearly stopped trying.
Mulder had plenty of time to chase Brian Lara's world record score of 400 not out but declared his innings at 367 instead. The South African skipper admitted he felt breaking the record against Zimbabwe would be meaningless since the home team was playing at almost full strength. His comments suggest that achieving the milestone against Zimbabwe would not carry the same weight as Lara's famous knock against England. The brutal honesty from Mulder highlighted just how far Zimbabwe cricket has fallen behind international standards.
Sean Williams provided the only bright spot for Zimbabwe with 257 runs across four innings while battling through injury. Captain Craig Ervine managed 151 runs but the rest of the batting lineup crumbled repeatedly against quality bowling. Wellington Masakadza became Zimbabwe's third highest scorer despite batting in the lower order with just 81 runs. The team failed to reach 300 runs in any single innings on what should have been a batsman-friendly pitch at Queens Sports Club.
Mulder had plenty of time to chase Brian Lara's world record score of 400 not out but declared his innings at 367 instead. The South African skipper admitted he felt breaking the record against Zimbabwe would be meaningless since the home team was playing at almost full strength. His comments suggest that achieving the milestone against Zimbabwe would not carry the same weight as Lara's famous knock against England. The brutal honesty from Mulder highlighted just how far Zimbabwe cricket has fallen behind international standards.
Sean Williams provided the only bright spot for Zimbabwe with 257 runs across four innings while battling through injury. Captain Craig Ervine managed 151 runs but the rest of the batting lineup crumbled repeatedly against quality bowling. Wellington Masakadza became Zimbabwe's third highest scorer despite batting in the lower order with just 81 runs. The team failed to reach 300 runs in any single innings on what should have been a batsman-friendly pitch at Queens Sports Club.
