Mulder's 147 helps South Africa set a mammoth target of 537 for Zimbabwe to win 1st Test

South Africa took the stranglehold of the first Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo by the end of the third day's play, with the visitors requiring nine wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. The game kept getting better for Wiaan Mulder, the new No 3 for the Proteas, as after a four-fer in the first innings with the ball, the right-hander went on to smash his second Test hundred, his first at his new position. Mulder's century, aided by skipper Keshav Maharaj's half-century, propelled South Africa to a strong score of 369 runs in their second innings.

The third day began at 49/1 for South Africa, with Tony de Zorzi being dismissed for 31 in the first half an hour. David Bedingham did his bit with a quickfire 35, but losing three wickets in quick succession didn't do their momentum any good. Mulder kept pushing on and compiled a well-made ton. There was enough on the surface for the bowlers to extract and after the debutants Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Dewald Brevis threw their wickets away, Zimbabwe had their tails up and would have fancied their chance to fold South Africa for under 250.

Mulder and Maharaj, however, had different ideas. Kyle Verreynne and Corbin Bosch also chipped in with identical score of 36 each while Mulder played the lead role. Wellington Masakadza took four wickets, but by then, the visitors had stretched the target beyond 500, the highest set by any team against Zimbabwe to chase in the fourth innings.

The pitch is doing enough for the bowlers but as visible in all three innings, if you get your eyes in, there are runs to be had. Losing that one wicket before the close of play would hurt Zimbabw,e as going into the fourth day with all 10 wickets intact would have been a good start from the openers, even though the mountain of 537 is a huge one to be chased down.

Bosch struck in the wee hours of the third day getting Takudzwanashe Kaitano caught edged at third slip as Zimbabwe lost their first wicket and the umpires called it stumps for the day. Zimbabwe still require 505 runs. Even if they may not chase down the target, they will hope to delay the inevitable as much as possible.