South Africa on Wednesday crushed Zimbabwe by an innings and 120 runs inside two days in their one-off day-night Test at St George’s Park.
Forced to follow on after being bowled out for 68 in their first innings, Zimbabwe were shot out for 121 runs in their second innings. The match ended before the scheduled dinner break on the second day.
Fast bowler Morne Morkel was the destroyer in the first innings, taking 5-21, but medium-pacer Andile Phehlukwayo and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj engineered the second-innings collapse.
Phehlukwayo took 3-13 and Maharaj claimed 5-59, with stand-in captain A.B. de Villiers seemingly using his frontline fast bowlers sparingly so they could take advantage of the helpful conditions under floodlights.
In the end, they were not needed.
Zimbabwe put up a fight at the start of their second innings, reaching 54 before they lost their first wicket, although opening batsman Hamilton Masakadza was forced to retire hurt after being struck on the right elbow by a ball from Morkel.
The total reached 75-1 before the innings imploded, with four wickets falling in 14 balls. The last nine wickets fell for 46 runs in 15.4 overs.
South Africa on Wednesday needed just 68 minutes and 14.1 overs to take Zimbabwe’s remaining six first-innings wickets after they resumed on 30-4.
Nightwatchman Kyle Jarvis was the top scorer for Zimbabwe, making 23.
Morkel, who took the first three wickets under floodlights on Tuesday, again made the first breakthroughs.
With his seventh ball of the morning, Morkel bowled left-hander Ryan Burl for 16, beating the batsman for pace with a ball angled in from around the wicket.
Four balls later he had Sikandar Raza caught behind after softening him up with a vicious bouncer, which Raza fended off the splice of his bat just short of gully.
Faced with almost an hour to bat before tea, Zimbabwe showed greater resistance in their second innings, but Morkel remained a threat.
Masakadza, who was out first ball to the tall fast bowler in the first innings, was hit on the elbow when the ball lifted off a good length and beat his forward defensive stroke.
Chamu Chibhabha and Craig Ervine saw their team through to tea, but the fight soon evaporated.
South Africa were again without wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, who suffered a low-grade hamstring strain while batting on Monday. De Kock was ruled out of the rest of the match, with De Villiers keeping wicket.
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