Game thread for this match being played at Hamilton.

These two have met twice in World Cups, with this one being the first meeting since 1999 at Chelmsford, when Zimbabwe shocked South Africa, and in the process eliminated England from their own tournament when the hosts completed their loss to India the following day. The other meeting was in 1992 when the two teams met at Canberra.

Given the paucity of meetings, World Cup records for this fixture look ripe for beating. The highest individual score is 76 by Neil Johnson at Chelmsford, while South Africa’s highest score is the 70 made by Kepler Wessels in Canberra.

Peter Kirsten, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener are the only other players to make half centuries in this fixture.

Neil Johnson has the best bowling figures as well, with 3/27.

South Africa are my choices for the competition, and Zimbabwe are not expected to put up much of a contest. Let’s see….