After displaying a commanding and dominant performance in the first Test, the Proteas will be looking to wrap up their two-match Test Series against Zimbabwe on a high when they meet again at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo starting from today.
The reigning World Test Champions are leading the series 1-0 after their whopping 328-run win over the Zimbabweans last week.
With regulars Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen rested by coach Shukri Conrad, fast bowler Corbin Bosch stepped up to the plate and delivered the goods with the ball.
Bosch followed up his impressive first innings century (100 not out) by taking five wickets of 43 runs as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 208 and put South Africa in the driving seat.
Bosch only became the fourth South African to score a century and pick up five wickets in an innings of a Test.
Heading into the second Test, veteran spin bowler and stand-in captain
Keshav Maharaj will not be available after suffering a groin injury.
In his absence, in-form all-rounder Wiaan Mulder will take over the reins and lead the Proteas for the first time.
“I think he [Mulder] is obviously on top of his game at the moment. He has captained teams during his youth days [SA U19], and he has shown some really good leadership qualities,” Conrad said.
“I think this is part of his journey, where he’s starting to take more responsibility in the side, and we’ve seen him do a lot of that in this series thus far, so I think it will be a great opportunity for Wiaan to grow into becoming a leader in this group.”
The first Test also saw some of the most talked-about and exciting prospects, Lhuan-dré Pretorius (19) and Dewald Brevis (22), also have a say on the result.
“We’ve been a team that has just won something major, and we had a lot of youngsters coming in,” Maharaj said.
“We know the talent is in our system. It was just about getting them in the right frame of mind to execute, and they showed that throughout the four days.”
