Zimbabwe vs South Africa Preview & Prediction | First Test

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2025 World Test Championship winners South Africa take on Zimbabwe in a two-match series that is not part of the new WTC cycle.

Date/time:

Venue: Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Weather: Bright sunshine across all five scheduled days of play with temperatures reaching highs of 21c.

How to watch: UK – Not televised / USA – Willow TV

Zimbabwe vs South Africa prediction

South Africa won’t be at all full-strength for this Test with their fast bowlers getting a well-earned rest following their World Test Championship triumph over Australia at Lord’s earlier in June. Batter Temba Bavuma also won’t feature. However, a selection of players who played key roles in the Proteas’ triumph will return and with exciting batter Dewald Brevis set to play, there’s reason for South Africa fans to look forward to this match.

Zimbabwe will have their work cut out to compete with South Africa, especially on what is likely to prove an excellent batting surface in Bulawayo. They were no match for England in their last red-ball excursion and South Africa will be heavy favourites here. But the value move comes in focusing on individual performances within the tourists’ line-up, most notably David Bedingham.

With 66 runs in the WTC final including a crucial top score of 45 in South Africa’s first innings, Bedingham was a key part in his side’s success and such a contribution will have done wonders for his confidence on the international stage. Bedingham could really feast on the Zimbabwean bowling attack and it’s well worth backing him to score highly across the scheduled five days.

Zimbabwe vs South Africa tip: David Bedingham to score over 67.5 match runs