Zimbabwe – 193 for 8 in 20 overs:
(C. Ervine 37, S. Matsikenyeri 11; J. Kallis 4-15, M. Morkel 2-16)
South Africa – 94 without loss in 12.4 overs:
(R. Levi 50, H. Amla 32)
South Africa won by 10 wickets
Zimbabwe is out of the International Cricket Council World Twenty20 tournament, after a 10-wicket defeat by South Africa in their second Group C match.
The pattern of the evening was set when captain Brendan Taylor lost the toss and his opposite, AB de Villiers, chose to field.
The Zimbabwe top order crumbled and then the rest of the wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals, unable to comprehend Jacques Kallis and Morne Morkel just as they had been awestruck by the guile of Ajantha Mendis on Tuesday, in the first group match at the same venue – the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in the Sooriyawewa area of the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota.
Kallis who accounted for Stuart Matsikenyeri (11), Elton Chigumbura (0) and Graeme Cremer (6) in quick succession before returning to dispatch Craig Ervine (37) finished with figures of four for 15 in four overs – the fourth-best by a South African bowler in Twenty20 internationals. His previous best was two for 20 against England in 2009.
The four-for in Hambantota earned him the man of the match award.
Set 94 to win, South Africa set about their chase with gusto and needed only openers Richard Levi and Hashim Amla to do the job.
Levi made 50 from 44 balls, six of them fours. Amla went at a run-a-ball; his 32 coming off 33 balls, with three fours.
The Hambantota 10-wicket win is the Proteas’ second in Twenty20 international matches and the second 10-wicket win in the World Twenty20 tournament after Australia's win over Sri Lanka in 2007. Coincidentally, that was also on the 20th of September.
For Zimbabwe, the record is not one they would have wanted: the 93 runs their second-lowest in Twenty20 international matches where they have completed their innings. Their lowest is the 84 against New Zealand in 2010.
They leave the tournament with the 93 in Hambantota on Thursday having come after the struggling 100 against hosts Sri Lanka in the tournament opener on Tuesday.
