South Africa will do their best to maximise on the opportunities provided to them, and they will look to adapt as quickly as possible and find ways to be positive and make it work should they run into tough conditions at the upcoming Namibia T20 Tri-Series.
The Proteas departed on Tuesday for the three-nation tournament that will also feature Zimbabwe and the hosts, Namibia.
The competition will start on 28 August and will wrap up with the crowning of the champions on 6 September.
All matches will be played at the Namibia Cricket Ground (NCG) in Windhoek, a two-ground facility, which was opened last year.
Cricket South Africa selected a relatively young team for the tri-series, with Dewald Brevis (23), Kwena Maphaka (20), and captain Bjorn Fortuin (31) as the most experienced players in the side.
Lutho Sipamla, Rubin Hermann and Lhuan-dre Pretorius are the others with double digit international caps to their names.
The decision was informed by a looming bumper summer of international cricket.
CSA felt it was prudent to give most of their senior players a rest ahead of Australia’s inbound tour.
The tournament provides an opportunity for the top domestic performers to showcase their skills in international cricket.
Duan Jansen is an obvious example. Jansen, who is the twin of Proteas allrounder Marco Jansen, was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2025-26 CSA One-Day Cup, a feat that helped him scoop the One-Day Cup Player of the Year award in July this year.
The allrounder also delivered noteworthy performances in the CSA T20 tournament and the SA20.
The squad also includes wicketkeeper Connor Esterhuizen and rising seamer Nqobani Mokoena, who enjoyed brilliant outings in South Africa’s T20 tour to New Zealand earlier in the year.
Both produced match-defining performances and this is another opportunity for the pair to further their claims for consistent consideration in international cricket.
SEASONED NAMIBIANS
The Proteas’ primary target will be to secure the title. However, Namibia will not make it easy.
The hosts selected a squad stacked with experience. Captain Gerhard Erasmus is part of a seasoned core that includes Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann and Bernard Scholtz.
They have also included exciting young talents like Max Heingo and Waldo Smith. The two teenage seamers have played a combined 15 T20Is between them.
The other youngster to watch out for is Alexander Busing-Volschenk, the 21-year-old seam bowling allrounder who hits the ball a long way.
Zimbabwe, on the other hand, bring a near full-strength side. They will be missing Tanaka Chivanga and their test and ODI captain, Richard Ngarava. 39-year-old Graeme Cremer, who is enjoying a second spell in international cricket after a seven-year layoff, was included in the Sikandar Raza-captained side.
Raza will hold the middle order together, while the primary responsibility to get runs will fall on Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, and Wessly Madhevere’s shoulders.
Blessing Muzarabani will spearhead a seam bowling attack that also features Kundai Matigimu, Newman Nyamhuri, and Brad Evans.
Though they have the least experienced international squad, the Proteas are confident that they will reach their goal.
“I think all of the younger players or whoever is newer to the environment, they all bring a very unique and different skill set. We are a young team, everyone is talented, and everyone will come out there and they must just be themselves. I think our team looks great and everyone brings a lot to the table,” Brevis shared ahead of the series.
South Africa will begin their campaign with a fixture against Namibia on Friday afternoon before crossing swords with Zimbabwe on Saturday afternoon.
The three teams will play each other twice in the group stage. The Proteas will round off their matches with fixtures against Zimbabwe and Namibia on Tuesday and Friday, respectively. All matches are scheduled to start at 2 pm.
SOUTH AFRICA SQUAD: Bjorn Fortuin, Eathan Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Connor Esterhuizen, Jordan Hermann, Rubin Hermann, Duan Jansen, Kwena Maphaka, Nqobani Mokoena, Nqaba Peter, Lhuan-dré Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, and Prenelan Subrayen.