SA vs ZIM

Right then, South Africa have brushed off the Namibian blues and are back to winning ways with a monstorous win over the Chevrons. There will be a break tomorrow in this 7-match tri-series before hosts Namibia return to face Zimbabwe. We will jon you again. For now, this is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Pradeep, Bidipto and the others. Take care!

Bjorn Fortuin (South Africa captain): Very nice to bounce back. Not a lot of time to dwell around with the quick turnaround. Nice to be out there again. (thoughts on how the changes in personnel from tomorrow perform) They did well in their own right, read the conditions and adapted.I am really proud of the impact they made. (on Brevis) Unbelievable. Probably one of the best hitters of the ball I have seen. Hopefully I can keep being on his side and not against him. (will the break help now?) It helps, specially physically. There are a couple of areas we need to improve on as a team, hopefully we can use these couple of days to get our minds off the game

Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe Captain): [On the tough start to the series] “When we were batting, I thought we were maybe 15 runs short, and that was down to how the middle order batted. But after seeing the way they batted, I don’t think 15 more runs would have made a difference. 160 wouldn’t have been par, but that’s also because we didn’t bowl as well as we should have. I just think all departments didn’t complement one another. We’ve got enough information now, so hopefully those jitters are out of the way and we can come out as a better unit in the next game.”

[On the positives] “The powerplay batting was really good and the finishing touches were good as well, so I think we can certainly tick those two off. Maru and Wesley batted well and put together a good little partnership, while Benny and BC also batted really well at the top. It’s the in-between parts that we need to work on, so that’s certainly a positive.”

[On Zimbabwe’s bowling] “A lot of people might just look at the figures, but I thought a lot of the boundaries came through edges as well. I thought our seamers bowled well. Sometimes you can’t fight luck, and that was also a positive. Apart from that, we’ll build on this.”

Dewald Brevis is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: [On his match-winning performance] “It was great to get off to a win. I’m extremely grateful for it, and the boys did really well. I think we showed improvement across the board, whether it was in the field, with the ball or with the bat. I’m extremely happy, and it’s great to see us getting a win here.”

[On the conditions in Benoni] “I’m really enjoying it. It’s a lovely ground. The wicket was really nice today, and the support has been amazing. It’s just a great place to play cricket.”

4:47 PM local time, 8:17 PM IST: MATCH SUMMARY

South Africa (146/3 in 13.4 overs) beat Zimbabwe (144/8 in 20 overs) by 7 wickets

Dewald Brevis 75*(32) | Prenalen Subrayen 2/27(4)
Brian Bennett 34(35) | Brad Evans 1/19(2.4)

Brevis hits the winning runs, fittingly. His 75 went in vain yesterday against Namibia but today he has dismantled the ZImbabwean attack on the way to a 32-ball unbeaten 75 with a mammoth strike rate of 234.38 and that has enabled South Africa to get up off the ground, brush off the dust and thump Zimbabwe. They win with as many as 38 balls to spare, an absolute no-contest in Windhoek

With this win, South Africa move to the top of the points table taking their NRR (+0.97) past Namibia's (+0.90) and Zimbabwe find themselves down in the dumps needing a quick turnaround before they face Namibia after a day's gap

Zimbabwe were simply off the boil, both with the bat and the ball. They got off to a brilliant start but inexplicibly lost their way in the middle overs and crawled up to 144/8 with the bat which looked like an under-par total in the innings break. In the end, it proved to be nowhere near enough as South Africa steamrolled them with Brevis scoring more than 50% of the runs again

20s from the two South African openers too, Pretorius and Jordan Hermann, but they could not carry on but it was a one man show from Brevis who made sure South Africa got the points today. Big credits to their bowlers as well, specially the two spinners Subrayen and Fortuin, who strangled the Zimbabwean batters and sucked the life out of their innings resultng in them not getting to a defendable total

13.4 Brad Evans to Dewald Brevis, EDGED AND FOUR! THAT'S IT! Anti-climatic end to the inning, but South Africa will take it as Brevis hits the winning runs, fittingly! The Proteas roar back! A dominant South Africa leave Zimbabwe battered and bruised, keeping their hopes of reaching the final alive! Back of a length on the off-stump, Brevis right behind it to defend, but takes the outside edge and goes wide of diving keeper, races away to the ropes.

13.3 Brad Evans to Rubin Hermann, back of a length, angling into the leg-stump. Hermann tapped it into the off-side, picks up a sharp single.

Only 5 needed now, South Africa are one hit away from registering a massive victory. Brevis on strike, won't be surprised if he finishes it with a maximum. Brad Evans [2.0-0-13-1] to bowl

12.6 Newman Nyamhuri to Rubin Hermann, FOUR MORE! Going down rather quickly this for Zimbabwe. Short and angling down the leg-side. Hermann looks to pull and gets some bat on it, races away to fine-leg boundary.

12.5 Newman Nyamhuri to Rubin Hermann, FOUR! Almost took Brevis with him to the boundary ropes. First boundary for Hermann. Length delivery on the stumps, slams it straight back at Brevis who sways away just in time.

12.3 Newman Nyamhuri to Rubin Hermann, back of a length in the channel, Hermann backed away to cut, but ends up chopping it into the off-side.

12.2 Newman Nyamhuri to Dewald Brevis, WIDE! Banged in short, but Nyamhuri loses his line outside the off-stump. Wide signaled, and the keeper couldn't collect neatly, they also get a bye.

12.1 Newman Nyamhuri to Dewald Brevis, FOUR! Brevis continues to put on a batting clinic here. Full outside the off-stump, Brevis smacked it straight back over the bowler's head, that's another boundary.