Date-stamped : 11 Nov95 - 18:28 South Africa `A` vs Zimbabwe `A`, TEST Played at Kingsmead, Durban, 6-9 October 1995 ====> Preview ZIMBABWEANS WILL RISE TO THE OCCASION Although beaten by Transvaal and Eastern Province in their four-day fixtures, Zimbabwe A cricket manager Babu Meman remains confident his side will rise to the occasion in their mini-Test against Dale Benkenstein`s South Africa A at Kingsmead from Friday to Monday. Meman, speaking at the Zimbabwean net practice on Thursday, said: "We have a good side. It just needs the players to show their true ability in on-field application of their na- tural talents, and then the match against South Africa A could develop into quite a tussle." The Zimbabwean manager acknowledged that South Africa A was strong in allround talent and a well balanced combination, but pointed out that in the Transvaal match, opening batsmen Mark Dekker and Ali Shah had showed the way with 165 not out and 85 respectively. "Give us a similar showing against South Africa A and then Dale (Benkenstein) and his bowlers may find the rest of our batsmen giving the South Africans some hectic leather chasing." He said other batsmen who had yet to produce their best tour form were Craig Evans, Guy Whittall, skipper Wayne James, who is also the wicketkeeper, Essop Adam and Danie Erasmus. "This is the match in which to do just that," he said. The Zimbabwe attack is spearheaded by quickies Henry Olonga, left-armer Brian Strang and Eddo Brandes, and seamers Shah and Whittall, with Paul Strang (legspin) and Ujesh Ranchod (offs- pin) as the back-up. Benkenstein, who has eight of his teammates from the SA under- 24 tour of Sri Lanka under his control, has multiple strengths. All-rounders Mark Bruyns, Neil Johnson, Benkenstein, Shaun Pol- lock -- the six-hitting hero back from the Hong Kong Sixes -- Lance Klusener and Steven Jack give ample variety in batting and bowling. Not to be overlooked either, is the pace of Roger Telemachus. Add in the batting skils of Adam Bacher, Jacques Kallis, Pieter Strydom and to a lesser degree offspinner Mark Davis and wicketkeeper Lulama Masikazana in the squad of 12, and it can be seen that the Zimbabeans are in for a tough time. South Africa A (from): Adam Bacher, Mark Bruyns, Jacques Kallis, Pieter Strydom, Neil Johnson, Dale Benkenstein (capt), Roger Telemachus, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Lulama Masika- zana, Mark Davis, Steven Jack. The Zimbabwean side will be named later. Source :: Sapa Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 1, 6 Oct 95, Lunch SLOW START FOR ZIMBABWEANS Zimbabwe A laboured for 18 overs in scoring 23 for one in a rain-interrupted first session on the opening day of their four- day mini-Test against South Africa A at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday. After home team skipper Dale Benkenstein had won the toss, he got the initial breakthrough after 16 overs when left- handed opening batsman Mark Dekker was smartly taken at third slip by Mark Davis off the bowling of quickie Roger Telemachus for 12. When rain stopped play, lunch was taken early with the score on 23/1. In a surprise move, South Africa A left out allrounder Lance Klusener specifically on the advise of the national selectors, who did not give team manager Graham Ford any reason for their request. The game started 15 minutes late and will be extended by the same margin because the Zimbabwe management was not aware that matches in Natal begin at 9.30am and not 10am. Source :: SAPA Contributed by Donald (eitan@rucus.ru.ac.za) ====> Day 1, End Zimbabwe `A` 53/5 The weather and Shaun Pollock dominated the first day of this 4 day `test`. The South African captain Dale Benkenstein won the toss and sent Zimbabwe in to bat in overcast, damp conditions. Zimbabwe struggled against some hostile bowling by Pollock, Roger Telemachus and Stephen Jack and quickly found themselves 5 wick- ets down with only 50 runs on the board. Pollock was the most im- pressive bowler, having spells of 0/10 in 7 overs and 3/8 in 6 overs. The only Zimbabwean to show some resistance was Glen Bruk-Jackson who decided that occupation of the crease was more important than scoring runs. He took 85 minutes to score his first two runs. The weather curtailed the days play to just 149 minutes at which stage Zimbabwe were 53/5. Contributed by Frank.Sokolic (sokolic@mtb.und.ac.za) ====> Day 2, 7 Oct 95, Lunch ZIMBABWE A BATSMEN TURN IT ON After labouring to 53/5 on a rain-affected first day, Zimbabwe A`s batsmen produced a dazzling show of aggression on the second day of their cricket "Test" against South Africa A at Kingsmead on Saturday, putting on 126 for the loss of two further wickets in the morning session. Heading the assault on the SA pace attack was allrounder Guy Whittall, who was not out on 53 at lunch, having reached his half-century off 127 balls in 185 minutes. He had good support from skipper Wayne James, who was even quicker with 39 off 55 balls in 87 minutes in a sixth wicket partnership of 68. Then, in an exciting seventh wicket stand between Whittall and Eddo Brandes, a further 35 was added before Brandes was clean bowled by Shaun Pollock for 17. In the next over, Whittall raced to his fifty, cracking two spec- tacular fours off Pollock. Paul Strang, who also sent Pollock to the boundary once in that over, was undefeated on 10 at lunch. Source :: SAPA Contributed by Donald (eitan@rucus.ru.ac.za) ====> Day 2, End South Africa A got off to a bad start at Kingsmead in Durban Sa- turday afternoon as they began their reply to the Zimbabwe A first innings total of 221 on the second day of their four- day cricket match. They were in real trouble when they lost two early wickets for 19 runs in the first six overs. However, confident batting from Jacques Kallis, 22 not out, and Neil Johnson, 28 not out, steadied the innings and at tea the total was 59 for two. In their innings Zimbabwe A, after a dreary performance on the first day, batted in sparkling fashion Saturday morning to take their overnight total of 53 for five to a creditable 221 all out. Guy Whittall made 62, Wayne James 39, Paul Strang, 36 not out, and Eddo Brandes 17. The most successful South African bowlers were Shaun Pollock with five for 65 and Roger Telemachus with three for 51, although the latter gave away 13 no balls that contributed to the high number of extras, 31. Source :: SAPA Contributed by Donald (eitan@rucus.ru.ac.za) ====> Day 2, more Zimbabwe `A` 221. South Africa `A` 59/2 The Zimbabwean lower-order provided some encouraging batting on day 2 of this game. Guy Whittall anchored the innings while Wayne James, Eddo Brandes and Paul Strang compiled consecutive partner- ships of 68, 35 and 42. James was the most entertaining of the Zimbabwe batsmen, his 39 runs included some attractive shots. Whittall looked very solid for his 62 while Strang employed the slash over slips to score three of his boundaries. The innings closed at 221 when Pollock bowled Henry Olonga to pick up his 5th wicket. The South African innings started badly as Henry Olonga trapped Adam Bacher lbw with the 5th ball of the first over and Mark Bruyns holed out to long leg soon after. Jacques Kallis and Neal Johnson batted through to tea at which point play was suspended for the day due to bad light. Contributed by Frank.Sokolic (sokolic@mtb.und.ac.za) ====> Day 3, 8 Oct 95 South Africa `A` 310, Zimbabwe `A` 15/1 Day three was another gloomy day on which more than 30 overs were lost due to bad light and rain. South Africa seemed to struggle at times but eventually posted an 89 run first innings lead. This was thanks to scores of 57 by Kallis, 55 by Johnson, 55 by Stephen Jack and a career best 74* by Shaun Pollock. It was Pol- lock and Jack who entertained the sparse crowd with a run-a-ball partnership of 108. This was the partnership which took South Africa from a precarious 159/7 to a fairly healthy first innings lead. Jack hit three sixes in his knock and Pollock celebrated his half century by hoisting Strang over the mid-wicket boundary. B Strang was the best of the Zimbabwe bowlers, picking up 5 wick- ets with his legspin. Eddo Brandes and Henry Olonga were quite expensive and were used sparingly. Pollock continued his one man show when Zimbabwe came out for their second innings. He had Bruk-Jackson caught behind before bad light once again forced an early end to the days proceedings. Contributed by Frank.Sokolic (sokolic@mtb.und.ac.za) ====> Day 3, more MINI-TEST HEADING FOR DRAW Between numerous breaks for rain and bad light, there were some spells of bright cricket on the third day of the mini- Test between South Africa A and Zimbabwe A at Kingsmead on Sunday. A splendid partnership of 108 in 71 minutes off 21 overs between Shaun Pollock and Steven Jack helped haul SA A back from a precarious 159/7, and they eventually took a first innings lead of 89 with a total of 310. Zimbabwe A were dismissed on day two for 221, to which they added a further 15, for the loss of one wicket, before bad light halted Sunday`s play. SA A began the day on 59/2, with overnight batsmen Jacques Kallis and Neil Johnson staying together to add 80 for the third wicket, with Kallis making 57 and Johnson 55. Then the visitors` captain, Wayne James, introduced his ace, in them form of legspinner Paul Strang, the first spinner to be used by either side in the match. By lunch, Strang had reduced the SA innings to 165/7, claiming 3/12 in eight overs. However, in the period after lunch, Pollock and Jack tore into the Zimbabwean attack, with the former posting 74 not out to fol- low up his 5/65 in a personal best batting and bowling perfor- mance at first class level. In the 108-run partnership for the eighth wicket, Jack made 55 before falling to Strang, who finished with 5/69 off 22 overs. Pollock batted for 130 minutes, hitting seven fours and a six, while Jack hit his runs off 64 balls, with five fours and three sixes. With so much play lost to the weather over the first three days, it`s unlikely either side will be able to push for victo- ry on Monday, although SA A hold the advantage of a 74-run lead at this stage. Source :: SAPA Contributed by Donald (eitan@rucus.ru.ac.za) ====> Day 4, 9 Oct 95 ZIMBABWEANS HOLD OUT FOR A DRAW Zimbabwe A earned a creditable draw in their four-day cricket match against South Africa A which ended at Kingsmead in Durban on Monday when bad light put paid to any hopes of achieving an outright result. At the stoppage the tourists were 147 runs ahead with two second innings wickets standing after they had scored 221 and 256 for eight against the 310 by the home side. Zimbabwe`s recovery to force the stalemate was quite remarkable in that in a fiery morning session they lost four wickets for 35 runs and were staggering along at 60/5. At that stage they were still 29 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat. But then came the fightback in the form of Craig Evans and skipper Wayne James, who, in a sparkling sixth-wicket stand, put on 139 runs in 130 minutes off 200 balls. The stand completely demoralised Dale Benkenstein`s men as 17 fours and two sixes flowed from the aggressive pair`s bats. The partnership was eventually broken by off-spinner Mark Davis, who induced Evans into a false hook that saw the ball curl to Mark Bruyns at gulley, and he was out for 74 (142 minutes, 105 balls). As inevitably happens, his partner was out soon afterwards when he played a half-hearted shot off fast bowler Roger Telemachus for Adam Bacher to pouch a difficult chance at mid- off. James made 64 runs (143 minutes, 111 balls). Thereafter, Eddo Brandes (14), Paul Strang (9 not out) and Bryan Strang (27 not out) weathered everything thrown at them to deny the hosts any chance of victory. The Zimbabwean batsmen were fortunate however, in that the home fielders spilt six clear-cut chances and also missed a decisive run-out chance when wicketkeeper Lulama Mazikasana completely missed the stumps with Brandes well out of his ground. On the day, Davis had the best return of 2/28 in 17 overs, although he was punished by two huge sixes. Shaun Pollock must have advanced his claims for international recognition at higher level with his haul of 8/117 and his top score of 74 not out in the SA innings. Source :: SAPA Contributed by Donald (eitan@rucus.ru.ac.za)