Relentless South Africa secure tri-series title in Windhoek

Scorecard

Despite injuries to Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Andile Simelane, South Africa were easily the better side on the field as they won the tri-series final in Windhoek.

Bjorn Fortuin elected to bat first after winning the toss in the final.

With Lhuan-dre Pretorius missing out due to a niggle, Connor Esterhuizen and Jordan Hermann were expected to step up and provide a strong start to South Africa. And the duo did exactly that, unleashing a flurry of boundaries, to get the Proteas going. 

Jordan took the lead in run-scoring and soon enough South Africa were 67 for no loss at the end of first Powerplay, with all Zimbabwean bowlers barring Blessing Muzarabani struggling for answers.

Jordan’s maiden fifty came off merely 24 balls but Newman Nyamhuri provided Zimbabwe something to cheer for in the eighth over, as South Africa lost their first wicket, in the form of Esterhuizen (32) at 84.

Jordan soon followed his opening partner into the pavilion, falling to a stunning catch by Ryan Burl off Brad Evans. 

South Africa however, still had Dewald Brevis, who had begun the tournament with back-to-back knocks of 75. With support from Rubin Hermann, Dewald helped South Africa keep up their pace in the middle overs, with the duo smashing 17 runs off the 15th over to bring their scoring rate to 10 runs-an-over.

200 looked imminent as the duo looked to flourish in the death overs, but Evans struck once again in the 17th over to remove Brevis (32) just as he was about to get going. Nyamhuri added to Zimbabwe’s joy by getting Rubin (27) early in the next over, but the South African tail held on to help their side get to 205/5.

Muzarabani was the most economical bowler of the innings with 25 runs from his four overs, whereas Evans (2/36) and Nyamhuri (2/51) finished with two wickets each.

The Chevrons were rattled early in response as Ben Curran fell for a first-ball duck to Eathan Bosch. That was the beginning of a procession as Eathan and Duan Jansen ran through the Zimbabwean top and middle-order. Zimbabwe had lost four wickets by the fifth over mark, and very nearly had skipper Sikandar Raza back in the pavilion too, as the batter was caught before his dismissal was overturned. Raza was caught off the second bouncer of the over by Eathan, which was declared a no-ball. ​

Despite this reprieve, the side had a tough task ahead of them, with 160 needed from 84 balls at the end of Powerplay. South African spinners provided little respite, as Zimbabwe struggled against Prenelan Subrayen and Fortuin, who removed Ryan Burl, Tadiwanashe Marumani and Sikandar Raza in no time.

Fortuin finished with 3/24, and the win seemed like it was almost a formality with the required rate getting out of hand, and only two wickets left. 

Brad Evans and Kundai Matigimu, however, put forth a brave ninth-wicket stand, which added 52 runs from 28 balls before Kwena Maphaka got rid of Matigimu.

Evans however, managed to stick on and brought forth his maiden T20I fifty with a six. The Zimbabwean innings finally came to an end in the 18th over. 

Eathan (2/22) and Duan (3/38) were the other prominent wicket-takers.

The tri-series was an exciting affair which saw each side win at least one game.

The tournament opener was a thriller which saw Namibia stun South Africa. The Proteas however picked themselves thereafter and defeated Zimbabwe in back-to-back contests to bolster their prospects for an appearance in the final.

For their part, the Chevrons managed to stave off the Namibian challenge and won two games to keep themselves in the contention as well. It all came down to the last game of the round-robin leg, where South Africa edged Namibia by 11 runs to ensure a face-off against Zimbabwe.

The tri-series between the three ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 co-hosts at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek was an important prelude to the Cricket World Cup which will also see the stadium as a hosting venue. 

This series is followed by a three-game bilateral contest between Namibia and South Africa, who will be yet again captained by Bjorn Fortuin.