Paceman Morne Morkel swept through Zimbabwe’s top order to leave them floundering on 30 for four at the close in reply to South Africa’s 309 for nine declared on the opening day of the inaugural day-night test on Tuesday.
Morkel removed Zimbabwe’s most experienced batsman Hamilton Masakadza with the first ball of their innings and Chamu Chibhabha and Brendan Taylor were also dismissed as the visitors made a tentative start under lights.
Craig Ervine was also out to Vernon Philander, leaving debutant Ryan Burl (15) and nightwatchman Kyle Jarvis to see out the day.
Aiden Markram scored 125 and AB de Villiers chipped in with a half century as South Africa opted to bat in the first-ever four-day test and looked to be on course for a big score.
But after amassing 251 runs for the loss of four wickets, the hosts lost five wickets in adding only an additional 58 runs after the dinner break before deciding to test Zimbabwe with the pink ball in their first test under lights.