Brevis fires as Proteas cruise to victory in Tri-Series opener against Zim
Brevis faced only 17 balls and smashed five sixes and a four, while Ruben Hermann added 45 runs on debut as the Proteas reached their target of 142 with 25 balls to spare.
The Proteas' innings got off to a shaky start with Lhuan-dre Pretorius sent packing by Richard Ngavara, caught and bowled with the first legitimate ball of the innings. Pretorius was playing his T20I debut.
Left-arm medium pacer Ngavara was on the money again in his second over when he had Reeza Hendricks chop a delivery onto his middle stump for 17.
Rubin Hermann put in some big hits on his @ProteasMenCSA debut 👏🇿🇦 #SAvZIM | #SSCricket pic.twitter.com/zfpjF4bLNG
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 14, 2025
Trevor Gwandu caused more damage and further wobbled the Proteas in the run chase in the fifth over when he got big fish Rassie van der Dussen for 16, leaving the Proteas on 38/3.
Brevis and Hermann then rescued the ship for the Proteas with their hard-hit 72-run partnership, with Brevis particularly devastating. But with just 30 runs required, Brevis miscued a Gwandu ball to Brian Bennett at extra cover.
Ngavara then came back to uproot Hermann's off stump to make it 130/5 in the 15th over before Corbin Bosch led the team home with an unbeaten 23.
Earlier, Sikandar Raza played a captain's knock to help Zimbabwe reach their total of 141 for six. He scored an unbeaten 54 runs off 34 balls, which included three boundaries and two sixes.
His innings, combined with a 66-run partnership with Ryan Burl, saved the Chevrons' innings.
𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞 ⚡
There's always action when he has ball in hand 😮💨🇿🇦 #SAvZIM | #SSCricket pic.twitter.com/xB87FdgavL
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 14, 2025
The Proteas bowlers started the innings on a good note after skipper Van der Dussen won the toss and elected to field first. They restricted Zimbabwe to 34/1 after the first power play.
Lungi Ngidi claimed the scalp of Wessly Madhevere (1) in the second over, when the batter stood on his wicket. Two overs after the first power play, and in his first over, Proteas wrist spinner Nqaba Peter rattled Clive Mandade's (8) stumps.
Brian Bennett, who shared a 31-run stand with Mandande, followed to the dressing room for 30, leaving the home side in a spot of bother on 55 runs for three wickets halfway through their innings.
Bennett was deceived in the air by George Linde and holed out to Reeza Hendricks, who was stationed a few metres inside the fence at deep midwicket.
Victory for the @ProteasMenCSA in Harare 👏🇿🇦
South Africa defeat Zimbabwe in their Tri-Series opener with five overs to spare 👇 #SAvZIM | #SSCricket pic.twitter.com/BuqhL3uAqx
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 14, 2025
Raza and Burl then started to pick up the pieces with their stand. Their running between the wickets was carried out with urgency and their shot selection was precise.
They ensured their team made it past the 100-run mark with five overs remaining.
Raza was more of the aggressor, reaching his 14th career T20 fifty, and at the time Zimbabwe were looking at a total above 150.
But that tempo dropped after Burl was dismissed by Nandre Burger for 29 runs off 20 balls. He was caught at long-on by Ruben Hermann after failing to clear the ropes.
In the last over, Linde picked up the wicket of Tashinga Musekiwa for nine runs and removed Tony Munyonga for a golden duck. He finished with the economic figures of three wickets for only 10 runs in his three overs.
New Zealand are the other side in the series and they play their first fixture against SA on Wednesday (1pm).
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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Looking to maintain the left-hand and right-hand combination in the middle, Rubin Hermann was promoted up the order, only for the batter to walk back to the pavilion an over later. Conrad persisted with the combination as Senuran Muthusamy was sent in at No 4, ahead of Rassie van der Dussen and Dewald Brevis. 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George Linde offered a resistance towards the backend with a quickfire 30, but his demise ensured that the Black Caps were too good on the day, wrapping up the Proteas innings in 18.2 overs to win the match by 21 runs. 🚨 Change of Innings 🚨 A dramatic final 5 overs brings the first innings to a thrilling close in this second T20I of the Tri-Nations Series 🔥💪 Now it's over to our batters to chase down 174 to secure a second win in this competition 🇿🇦.#WozaNawe — Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) July 16, 2025 Earlier, the Proteas quicks carried their momentum from their impressive bowling display against Zimbabwe earlier in the week and established their dominance in the contest against the Black Caps batters, reducing Rob Walters' men to 43/2 in the first Powerplay. Kwena Maphaka, having been drafted into the playing XI for Nandre Burger, led from the front, claiming two wickets inside the opening 10 overs as he accounted for Devon Conway (9) with a vicious bouncer and the experienced James Neesham for a duck. Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee and Senuran Muthusamy chipped in with one wicket apiece as they helped the Proteas reduce the Black Caps to 70/5 after 9.3 overs of the contest. From there on in, it was the Black Caps show as Tim Robinson (75 not out) and Bevon Jacobs (44 not out) combined for an unbeaten 103 runs to propel the Black Caps to a competitive 173/5. Robinson and Jacobs smashed a total of six sixes and seven fours between them as they feasted on what was a poor bowling performance from the Proteas bowlers in the last 10 overs of the innings. New Zealand: 173/5 (Robinson 75*, Jacobs 44*, Maphaka 2/38) South Africa: 152 all out (Brevis 35, Linde 30, Duffy 3/20, Henry 3/34) New Zealand won by 21 runs
