Van der Dussen’s debut ‘pretty close to perfect’

South Africa came into the series after winning the one-day internationals 3-0, and van der Dussen was one of two debutants in their ranks – opening batsman Gihahn Cloete was the other.

Batting first, South Africa were 11/2 when van der Dussen joined his captain, Faf du Plessis, and they, along with David Miller, lifted the team to 160/6. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 126 in reply with Imran Tahir taking 5/23.

Van der Dussen scored 56 in 44 balls – the only half-centurion in the game – with five fours and a six.

“It is pretty close to perfect – to get 50 on debut and to top it off with the team winning, which is the most important thing, it is a dream come true and I couldn’t be happier,” he said.

Van der Dussen, a popular T20 player who has turned out in leagues in the Caribbean and Canada too, was the highest run-getter in the South African first-class competition last season and also played for South Africa A recently on their tour of India.

“It has definitely helped my game,” he said of playing for Vancouver Knights and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. “You come up against some of the best in the world in these international tournaments. Doing well there gave me the confidence to know that I can perform at that level.

“This is international cricket, it is a new stage with extra pressure but also with a lot of privilege. It gave me confidence to come out and play my game.”

The second game of the series will be in Potchefstroom, where van der Dussen has played a lot of cricket over the years.

“As a player, you always have to try to learn and adapt. You want to get better every day. I came up against Zimbabwe’s bowlers for the first time so going into the next few games I will reassess and see where I went wrong and where I can do better,” he said.