There was success early for South Africa as Makhaya Ntini had Vusi Sibanda caught behind for 1 in the second over of the day.

The match was postponed because of rain on Sunday and was due to start an hour late because of a wet outfield.

South Africa made three changes from the side that won the first match in Bloemfontein by five wickets, in keeping with a policy to rotate players over the course of the three-match series,

Titans all-rounder Alviro Petersen, 25 makes his debut, while Justin Kemp and Andrew Hall are also in, at the expense of Herschelle Gibbs, Charl Langeveldt and Andre Nel. Gibbs was reported to have a slight groin strain.

Zimbabwe selected Piet Rinke to replace Tawanda Mupariwa and were forced to make a second change when opening batsman Terry Duffin was injured during the warm-up. He was replaced by Tafadzwa Mufambisi.

In contrast to Sunday's rain, the weather was sunny. Mainly because of concern about the state of the bowlers' run-ups, the umpires decided to allow for an additional hour of drying time. The match remains a 50-overs-a-side clash.