Dewald Brevis struck a blistering unbeaten 75 from just 32 balls to power a depleted South African squad to a dominant seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the T20I Tri-Series in Windhoek on Saturday.
Despite a brisk 45-run opening stand between Brian Bennett (34) and Ben Curran (24), Zimbabwe squandered a strong start of 76 for 1 after ten overs. They added just 68 runs and lost seven wickets in the back half of their innings, finishing at 144 for 8.
South African spinners Prenelan Subrayen (2-27) and Bjorn Fortuin (1-25) successfully strangled the middle order. Fast bowler Duan Jansen was expensive but effective also claiming a team-high three wickets (3-45).
South Africa easily chased the 145-run target, posting 146 for 3 with 38 balls to spare. Brevis decimated the Zimbabwean bowling attack and launching massive sixes out of the stadium and reaching his half-century off just 24 deliveries.
South Africa bounced back from an opening 18-run loss to hosts Namibia to secure their first points of the series. Zimbabwe remains winless and will look to recover when they face Namibia on Monday.
Scorecard: South Africa 146 for 3 (Brevis 75*, Evans 1-19) beat Zimbabwe 144 for 8 (Bennett 34, Marumani 30, Jansen 3-45, Subrayen 2-27) by seven wickets.
