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Johan Botha's official debut as the captain of the Proteas' Standard Bank Pro20 squad could hardly have gone more smoothly than it did as he led his side to a seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe at OUTsurance Oval on Friday night with 25 balls to spare.

He did lose the toss and he did have a catch dropped off his bowling but the only real setback was the injury suffered by pace spearhead Morne Morkel while fielding after bowling his first two overs. The official diagnosis was a sprained ligament of the right ankle and it seems unlikely that the younger Morkel will be fit to play in the second Pro20 match at Kimberley's Diamond Oval on Sunday.

It meant that Botha had to get two overs out of JP Duminy on a surface that did not really suit spin bowlers as the ball came on to the bat very comfortably. In addition the Bloemfontein ground possesses one of the slickest outfields in the country and the ball flies as rapidly through the air as it does on the Highveld.

As Botha pointed out the real concern is that the Proteas could go into next week's MTN ODI series without both Morkel and Dale Steyn and that would leave a huge gap in the resources of any team.

Zimbabwe put up a good showing with the bat with half-centuries from both Chamu Chibhabha and Hamilton Masakadza although they probably used up too many dot balls in the first half of their innings. Masakadza struggled to score from the tidy bowling of Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkel who both bowled short of a length and straight at the batsman. He picked up the tempo when he partnered Chibhabha for their second wicket 72 run partnership. Masakadza put away everything short to the boundary occasionally playing across the line to free his arms before being run-out for 72 from 63 balls including six fours and two sixes.

Parnell was the pick of the Proteas' bowlers for three of his four overs on his comeback from injury and picked up two early wickets at a bargain price. He is obviously still feeling his way but the late swing was very much in evidence as was his slow bouncer. He can only get better in the weeks ahead.

When the Proteas batted, it was business as usual for the old firm of Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman. They weren't quite as devastating as they had been in world record form against England the previous season but they still smashed 78 runs in the power play overs and had added 90 by the time they were separated. They faced fewer than 10 dot balls between them and the ball was dispatched into a good size crowd with regularity. Smith was named Standard Bank Master Blaster for his innings of 58 off 29 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes.

The Proteas then lost three wickets in three overs and, after a couple of consolidating overs, the two left-handers, Duminy and David Miller, shared a 30-ball 50 runs partnership to finish the match in style.

The Proteas gave debut caps to Colin Ingram and Rusty Theron who become the 46th and 47th player respectively to represent South Africa in this format of the game.
Ingram distinguished himself with two direct hits on the stumps, one of them from all of 50 metres. Theron's first official international wicket was a perfect Yorker to remove Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura for just 10 runs.

Mini Scorecard:

Zimbabwe 168-4 (20 overs, 8.4rpo)
Masakadza 72 (63) Parnell 2-29
Chibhabha 52 (32)

South Africa 169-3 (15.5 overs, 10.7rpo)
Smith 58 (29) Utseya 2-41
Miller 36 (24)

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20