Not pretty, but it'll do

The Proteas' win over Zimbabwe in the one-off Test in Harare yesterday was one of Cinderella's ugly sisters before midnight: made to look prettier than it was.

It was also comprehensive. Victory by nine wickets was gained with more than a day to spare.

The home side, which resumed 113 runs shy of making South Africa bat again, were dismissed for 181 in the ninth over after tea. SA knocked off the nominal target of 41 in 10.4 overs.

Dane Piedt revelled in the sharp turn he extracted and maintained fine control to take 4/62 and finish with a match haul of 8/152 - the best figures by a Proteas spinner on debut and the 11th best by any SA bowler in his first Test.

Morné Morkel bowled with the same impressive aggression and commitment he showed in the first innings, when his efforts went unrewarded. This time, he claimed 3/15 in 15 overs.

Dale Steyn huffed and puffed like the best of pantomime villains and blew three Zimbabweans' houses down for 38.

So, it was left to the bowlers to tie a ribbon around this half-brick of a match that SA's batsmen struggled to make watchable in their first innings.

Hashim Amla explained why that happened: "We could have tried to take the game to them and we could have been six or seven wickets down. We haven't been able to play the type of cricket we usually play, given the conditions.

"Winning in four days is as big a victory as it gets on this type of pitch."

To be sure, the dusty, dismal, depressing Harare Sports Club pitch was designed to stunt bright batting. But the Zimbabweans found a way around that and there can be no denying Zimbabwe's limited attack should have been no match for SA's strong batting.

But a win is a win and this one was claimed in 10 overs after lunch in which South Africa took five wickets for 26 runs.

Steyn struck first trapping the lumbering Mark Vermeulen lbw. Then Piedt hung onto Vusi Sibanda's hard-hit return catch and had Brendan Taylor sharply taken by Dean Elgar at short leg.

Morkel came to the party by bowling Regis Chakabva - who left a delivery he never should have - and having Sean Williams wonderfully caught by JP Duminy diving full length at point.

What this all meant was that Zimbabwe had crashed from 80/2 at lunch, to 124/7 with almost 45 minutes of the second session left. Richmond Mutumbami and John Nyumbu halted the slide and levelled scores when Mutumbami drove Piedt through the covers for three, seven balls short of tea.

Oddly, SA resumed after the interval with Duminy and Elgar instead of more threatening bowlers. That Steyn replaced Duminy and not Elgar in the third session of the day was also odd.

Mutumbami and Nyumbu took advantage when SA removed the foot from their throats to put on 54 before Steyn had Mutumbami caught behind for 43. his highest Test score.

Piedt returned in the eighth over after tea, and Nyumbu slapped the off-spinner's first delivery straight back at him to complete his quiver of wickets.

Seven balls later, Steyn splayed Tinashe Panyangara's stumps to end the innings.

With SA needing just two more runs, Elgar played on and then, six balls later, Faf du Plessis finished it with a four down the ground off Sean Williams.

Scorecard

Zimbabwe vs South Africa

One-off Test in Harare

Zimbabwe first innings 256 all out(B Taylor 93, H Masakadza 45; D Steyn 5/46, D Piedt 4/90).

South Africa first innings 397 all out (F du Plessis 98, Q de Kock 81; J Nyumbu 5/157, D Tiripano 2/65).

Zimbabwe second innings

H Masakadza c AB de Villiers b M Morkel 19

V Sibanda c and b D Piedt 45

D Tiripano b D Piedt 5

M Vermeulen lbw b D Steyn 21

B Taylor c D Elgar b D Piedt 5

R Chakabva b M Morkel 15

S Williams c JP Duminy b M Morkel 3

R Mutumbami c Q de Kock b D Steyn 43

J Nyumbu c and b D Piedt 13

T Chatara not out 0

T Panyangara b D Steyn 2

Extras (2b 7lb 1nb) 10

Total (all out after 76.2 overs) 181

Falls: 1/25 2/58 3/98 4/98 5/113 6/121 7/124 8/178 9/178

Bowling: D Steyn 21.2-9-38-3, V Philander 10-3-25-0 (1nb), M Morkel 15-9-15-3, D Piedt 25-3-62-4, JP Duminy 2-1-12-0, D Elgar 3-0-20-0.

South Africa second innings

D Elgar b T Chatara 21

A Petersen not out 17

F du Plessis not out 5

Extras (l1b) 1

Total (for one wicket) 44

Fall: 1/39

Bowling: J Nyumbu 4-0-24-0, T Panyangara 3-1-5-0, T Chatara 2-1-5-1, S Williams 1.4-0-9-0.

• SA won by nine wickets