A fourth-wicket stand of 121 between Boeta Dippenaar and JP Duminy helped South Africa overcome an early scare and eased them to a five-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first of three one-day internationals on Friday.
The hosts, chasing a modest target of 202 for victory, crashed to 33 for three before experienced opener Dippenaar, in his 100th match, and left-hander Duminy, in just his sixth, repaired the damage in untroubled style.
Duminy was stumped for 60 from just 70 balls with 48 runs still required for victory.
Debutant opener Loots Bosman (5) slogged across the line against Edward Rainsford, Herschelle Gibbs (2) slapped a wide long-hop from Tawanda Mupariwa to cover and captain Jacques Kallis (4) top-edged a cut against Anthony Ireland to give the inexperienced Zimbabweans hope of a shock win.
Dippenaar was in less charitable mood than some of his top-order colleagues and finished with a resolute, unbeaten 85 from 127 balls with five fours.
A determined half-century by opener Vusi Sibanda anchored a pedestrian Zimbabwean total of 201 for seven after captain Prosper Utseya had won the toss and chosen to bat.
Sibanda made 51 from 78 deliveries including eight boundaries but there was no urgency shown at any stage of the innings as the tourists made little secret of the fact that their primary goal was to survive the full 50 overs.
Justice Chibhabha contributed 37 runs from 64 balls on a largely blameless pitch and Hamilton Masakadza made 32 from 41 balls including the most aggressive shot of the afternoon, a straight six back over the head of left-arm spinner Robin Peterson.
New-ball bowlers Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini both conceded just 29 runs from their full allocation of 10 overs while Andre Nel and Charl Langeveldt collected two wickets apiece.
The pick of the bowlers was Kallis, who took two for 16 from six hostile overs before removing himself from the attack.
"There's no doubt we were rusty but credit should also go to Zimbabwe -- they played some decent cricket at times and made us work hard," Kallis said.
The second match is a day game in East London on Sunday and the series concludes with another day-night match in Potchefstroom on Wednesday.
Scorecard
Zimbabwe:
T Duffin c Kallis b Ntini 3
V Sibanda c Pollock b Nel 51
C Chibhabha c Peterson b Kallis 37
H Masakadza c Duminy b Kallis 32
B Taylor c Gibbs b Nel 9
S Matsikenyeri b Langeveldt 11
E Chigumbura not out 26
P Utseya c Boucher b Langeveldt 14
T Mupariwa not out 2
Extras: (lb-4, nb-2, w-10) 16
Total: (for 7 wickets, 50 overs) 201
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-76, 3-137, 4-140, 5-158, 6-158, 7-179
Did not bat: E. Rainsford, A. Ireland
Bowling: S Pollock 10 - 0 - 29 - 0 (nb-2 w-1), M Ntini 10 - 3 - 29 - 1 (w-1), A Nel 9 - 0 - 39 - 2 (w-4), C Langeveldt 10 - 0 - 49 - 2 (w-2), R Peterson 5 - 0 - 35 0, J Kallis 6 - 1 - 16 - 2 (w-2).
South Africa:
L Bosman b Rainsford 5
B Dippenaar not out 85
H Gibbs c Chibhabha b Mupariwa 2
J Kallis c Taylor b Ireland 4
J Duminy st Taylor b Matsikenyeri 60
M Boucher b Rainsford 8
S Pollock not out 16
Extras: (b-1, lb-1, nb-3, w-17) 22
Total: (for 5 wickets, 43.5 overs) 202
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-23, 3-33, 4-154, 5-175
Did not bat: R Peterson, C Langeveldt, A Nel, M. Ntini
Bowling: E. Rainsford 10 - 1 - 29 - 2 (nb-1), T. Mupariwa 9 - 0 - 43 - 1 (w-4), A. Ireland 10 - 0 - 52 - 1 (nb-2 w-4), P. Utseya 6 - 0 - 37 - 0 (w-1), C. Chibhabha 6 - 0 - 23 - 0 (nb-1 w-1), S. Matsikenyeri 2 - 0 - 10 1, H. Masakadza 0.5 - 0 - 6 0.
Result: South Africa won by 5 wickets
