Lhuan-dre Pretorius carved a brilliant half-century, while Bjorn Fortuin and Duan Jansen bowled a sensational spells to lead South Africa to a 43-run win over Zimbabwe in their Namibia T20I Tri-Series contest at the Namibia Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Pretorius took charge of the innings after his captain, Bjorn Fortuin won the toss and elected to bat first. He steered South Africa to 185/7 in their allotted 20 overs. South Africa's bowlers overwhelmed Zimbabwe and bowled them out for 142 in 17.4 overs.
Pretorius put his full range of abilities on display as he marched to an outstanding 51-ball 91 (12x4s, 3X6). This is highest T20I score and also his second half-century in the format. The 22-year-old faced 27 balls to reach the milestone. The left-hander used his wrists, carved the ball into gaps, and used power where necessary.
He was part of major partnerships for the Proteas. He shared a 68-run opening stand with Jordan Hermann (28) and then added 86 runs with Dewald Brevis (41) for the second wicket. His partnership with Hermann ensured that South Africa did not lose early wickets, before his stand with Brevis took the game out of Zimbabwe's reach. Brevis and Hermann were content to play supporting roles to Pretorius, who looked in fine touch.
Zimbabwe mustered a late fightback that saw them claim six of the seven wickets they claimed in the last 4.5 overs of the match. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to restrict South Africa to a manageable total.
Later in the day, Bjorn Fortuin and Duan Jansen produced fine performances with the ball to seal South Africa's victory. Fortuin was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 24 runs in 3.4 overs. Jansen chipped in with three wickets for 21 runs in four overs.
Fortuin, who made a name for himself as one of the best spinners in the powerplay in domestic cricket, lived up to his reputation with a double-wicket maiden in the fourth over. The twin strikes dislodged Brian Bennett and Wessly Madhevere in three deliveries. The wickets drained whatever momentum Zimbabwe had developed in the early part of their innings.
Fortuin's scalps were sandwiched by Prenelan Subrayen and Duan Jansen wickets, which came in the second and sixth overs. The four wickets put Zimbabwe on the back foot. Jansen further handicapped Zimbabwe with a twin strike of his own in the eighth over. He dismissed Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani in successive deliveries to reduce Zimbabwe to 51/6.
Sikandar Raza did his best to keep Zimbabwe in the contest with a valiant 45 from 33 balls. Unfortunately, the Zimbabwe captain kept losing partners. Zimbabwe's best partnership was his 39-run eighth-wicket stand with Newman Nyamhuri (27). The tailender gave the Zimbabwean fans in attendance reason to cheer with a few lusty blows.
South Africa's victory means that they are the only side with two wins after two rounds of matches. They have all but secured their spot in the final with one round of games to go before Sunday's title contest.
SOUTH AFRICA: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Jordan Hermann, Dewald Brevis, Connor Esterhuizen (wk), Rubin Hermann, Eathan Bosch, Duan Jansen, Bjorn Fortuin (capt), Prenelan Subrayen, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka.
ZIMBABWE: Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Innocent Kaia, Sikandar Raza (capt), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Newman Nyamhuri, Kundai Matigimu