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Paul Munyuki Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE’S cricketers will look back on this day as one of those days when they just threw away a golden chance to beat Big Brother South Africa in a cricket showdown.Prosper Utseya will look back on this day as that special day when his off-spin didn’t only get him five wickets against South Africa but a hat-trick against the Proteas.

The sad part about all this is that the day will be remembered as the day when Zimbabwe suffered another big ODI loss to South Africa.
It’s a pity, isn’t it, that sport has no room for those who lose?

Utseya had career best figures of 5-36, and a hattrick in the 27th over, to become only the second Zimbabwean to claim a hat-trick in One Day International cricket.

Eddo Brandes was the first Zimbabwe to claim a hat-trick against England, dismissing Nick Knight, John Crawley and Naseer Hussain in 1997.

But Utseya’s heroics were not good enough to bring Zimbabwe their first win over South Africa on home soil as the batting line-up once again let the hosts down.

Winning the toss and asking South Africa to bat first, the Proteas  were all out for 231 after 49.5 overs, Utseya spinning his way to glory with a hat-trick as he claimed the scalps of Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rousouw and David Miller.

“Happy with the way I bowled but disappointed that we didn’t win. Spin department has been our strength and we knew pitch was going to turn,” said Utseya.

“The captain took me off after three overs and later I decided to come around to de Kock and changed my field placings a bit.  I was a bit of both – defensive and attacking. The conditions helped a lot to turn the ball.”

But after lunch, Zimbabwe failed to stand their ground and were all out for 170 in just 38.3 overs with all-rounder Sean Williams being the top scorer with 46 off 57, three fours and a six.

Tino Mawoyo was the first to go after he was run out for a duck and time is running out for him to put runs on the board.

Opening with Sikanda Raza, Mawoyo was caught ball watching and could not make ground, chasing a tricky single, and was run out.

There were some starts for the hosts but no one really stayed there to take them over the line with former skipper Brendan Taylor again disappointing as he was dismissed for a duck.

The fifth wicket partnership of Malcolm Waller (20 off 23) and Williams (46 off 57) gave Zimbabwe hope but when the former went, trying to take on Dale Steyn, things started going from bad to worse.

Hamilton Masakadza was clean bowled and Williams and Raza gifted their wickets and, in the end, Zimbabwe lost not because the Proteas were superior but simply because the hosts could not handle the pressure after having done wonders in the field.

There is no place to hide for them and, tomorrow, it’s back again for another tough one against the hard-hitting Aussies at Harare Sports Club.

Scorecard

South Africa Innings    (Won by 61 runs)
Amla*    st †Taylor b Utseya    66
de Kock†    c Chatara b Utseya    76
du Plessis    c Sikandar Raza b Nyumbu    15
Rossouw    c Nyumbu b Utseya    0
Miller    lbw b Utseya    0
Duminy    lbw b Utseya    2
McLaren    b Nyumbu    6
Steyn    b Nyumbu    10
Abbott    c Chigumbura b Chatara    6
Phangiso    c †Taylor b Chatara    13
Imran Tahir    not out    23
Extras    (lb 2, w 12)    14
Total    (all out; 49.5 overs;)    231

F-O-W: 1-142 (Amla, 24.2 ov), 2-147 (de Kock, 26.4 ov), 3-147 (Rossouw, 26.5 ov), 4-147 (Miller, 26.6 ov), 5-155 (Duminy, 30.5 ov), 6-163 (du Plessis, 33.2 ov), 7-179 (McLaren, 37.5 ov), 8-190 (Steyn, 41.5 ov), 9-195 (Abbott, 43.5 ov), 10-231 (Phangiso, 49.5 ov)

Bowling: Nyumbu 10-2-42-3-(2w); Chatara 8.5-1-28-2(1w); Vitori 6-0-50-0; Chigumbura 2-0-19-0; Williams 10-0-37-0(2w); Utseya 10-0-36-5; Raza 1-0-9-0(3w); Waller 2-0-8-0

Zimbabwe Innings
Mawoyo    run out (†de Kock/Miller)    0
Raza    c Miller b Imran Tahir    35
Masakadza    b Phangiso    25
Taylor†    b Phangiso    0
Williams    c Amla b McLaren    46
Waller    c Rossouw b Steyn    20
Chigumbura*    c Rossouw b Steyn    22
Utseya    c †de Kock b McLaren    5
Nyumbu    c †de Kock b McLaren    0
Chatara    not out    6
Vitori    c †de Kock b Steyn    3

Extras          (lb 2, w 6)           8
Total    (all out; 38.3 overs)    170

F-O-W: 1-1 (Mawoyo, 2.5 ov), 2-43 (Masakadza, 9.4 ov), 3-46 (Taylor, 11.5 ov), 4-70 (Sikandar Raza, 18.1 ov), 5-116 (Waller, 26.2 ov), 6-138 (Williams, 31.4 ov), 7-153 (Utseya, 35.1 ov), 8-153 (Nyumbu, 35.2 ov), 9-161 (Chigumbura, 36.4 ov), 10-170 (Vitori, 38.3 ov)

Bowling: Steyn 8.3-2-36-3; Abbott 6-0-36-0 (3w); Phangiso 8-0-33-2; McLaren 7-0-24-3(3w; Imran Tahir 8-0-32-1; Duminy 1-0-7-0.