T20I Tri-series final: Zimbabwe eye history versus formidable South Africa
What's the story
South Africa will face Zimbabwe in the final of the Namibia T20I Tri-Series on Sunday. The match will be played at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek. Despite a rocky start to their campaign with an 18-run loss to Namibia, South Africa managed to recover by winning against Zimbabwe twice and Namibia once, topping the points table. Here we look at the match preview.
Road to finals
Will Zimbabwe break the deadlock?
Zimbabwe reached the final by winning two matches against hosts Namibia.
However, they were unable to beat a second-string South African side in both their encounters.
Despite having a full-strength squad, the Chevrons will have to play their basics right on Sunday if they hope to beat the Proteas for the first time in T20Is.
As per Cricinfo, Zimbabwe are eyeing their maiden T20I win over the Proteas side.
The latter prevailed in each of the previous 10 concluded games between these two teams.
Match details
Pitch report and other details
The Namibia Cricket Ground has witnessed a mix of high-scoring games and good contests between bat and ball.
The average first-innings score in six matches here is around 179, with teams batting first win four of the six group-stage games.
Pacers have been mighty effective in the powerplay as the tournament has witnessed several batting collapses.
Meanwhile, the contest will get underway at 5:30pm IST.
Team lineup
Probable XIs of SA and ZIM
South Africa (Probable XI): Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Jordan Hermann, Dewald Brevis, Connor Esterhuizen (wk), Rubin Hermann, Eathan Bosch, Bjorn Fortuin (c), Andile Simelane/Duan Jansen, Nqobani Mokoena, Kwena Maphaka, Nqabayomzi Peter.
Zimbabwe (Probable XI): Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Innocent Kaia, Wesley Madhavere, Sikandar Raza (c), Ryan Burl, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Kundai Matigimu.
Performers
Here are the key performers
Dewald Brevis started his campaign in the ongoing season with back-to-back scores of 75.
Having made 94 and 101 in his last two outings, 20-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius would be high on confidence.
Bjorn Fortuin claimed a match-winning four-fer in his last outing against Zimbabwe.
Brad Evans has been in fine touch in the ongoing tourney, having claimed eight wickets from four games.
Innocent Kaia scored a fine 42-ball 72 in his last outing.
Poll
