Match News and Current Form
Zimbabwe have plenty of red ball match fitness after being humbled by a full-strength England at Trent Bridge (innings and 45 runs) last month before sticking around to give South Africa some preparation for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. But they have slipped beneath both Ireland and Afghanistan to 12th (last) in the ICC Test rankings having lost 12 of 17 matches (W2, D3) since the start of 2020. Losses this year alone have come against Ireland, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and England; and that’s despite playing the majority of those 17 games in either Harare or Bulawayo.
South Africa are now kings of the world after winning the 2025 WTC final, doubling as their eighth consecutive Test victory. They’ve conquered Bangladesh, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia in the last 12 months, and whilst they’ll be approaching this non-WTC with a vastly different squad, their only Test defeats in the last three years have either been at the hands of a ‘big three’ nation or during that infamous ‘third XI’ tour of New Zealand that clashed with the SA20.
Head-to-Head History
The two nations recently played a four-day practice match in Arundel, Sussex, but just got 90 total overs into a four-day match because of bad weather. South Africa declared at 313/2 with five separate batters retiring before Zimbabwe managed 48/1 in reply.
South Africa have never lost a Test match to Zimbabwe (W8, D1) and the last came back on Boxing Day 2017, which was a pink ball match that lasted less than two days.
All of South Africa’s eight wins have been by margins of either seven wickets (x3) or by an innings and more (x5).
Hot Stats and Streaks
Brian Bennett averages just 20 against spin in 2025 Tests (eight innings).
Sean Williams scored 189 and 65 runs in his last two Bulawayo Tests.
Wiaan Mulder was dismissed for under 20 runs in 11 of his 15 Test innings in Africa.
Keshav Maharaj claimed figures of 5-59 in his only Test innings against Zimbabwe.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Keshav Maharaj will captain a South Africa side missing Temba Bavuma (injured) as well as Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi (all rested). It means a very inexperienced bowling attack is imminent, whilst there’ll be opportunities for Tony de Zorzi to correct his home average of 14.53 and Matthew Breetzke to improve upon his debut duck against Bangladesh last year. David Bedingham, who scored a handy 45 and 21* against Australia but has just four 50+ scores in 23 innings, could use this series to shore up his middle order spot.
Zimbabwe suffered two major injuries during their tour of England: fast bowler Richard Ngarava suffered a lower back injury during the Test and Ben Curran picked up a broken finger during that practice game in Arundel. Sikandar Raza is also unavailable through his Major League Cricket commitments, though he has rarely played Test cricket anyway. The burden will be shouldered by spearhead bowler Blessing Muzarabani, who averages three wickets per innings (28 from nine) on home soil.
Betting Analysis
Anything but an enormous South Africa victory looks unlikely with five days of sunshine forecast and South Africa fielding a much classier team even with their voluntary absences. Backing Sean Williams to top score for Zimbabwe, as he did in three of their last five innings, could be a shrewd pick.