South Africa win T20I Tri-series, beat Zimbabwe in final: Stats
What's the story
South Africa have won the Namibia T20I tri-series, defeating Zimbabwe in the final. The Proteas put on a stellar performance, scoring over 200 runs for the second time in three days. Despite missing series' joint-leading run-scorer Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who was out with a groin injury, they managed to post an impressive total of 205/5. The victory margin was a whopping 48 runs, completing a hat-trick of wins against Zimbabwe within eight days.
Match highlights
South Africa's batting steals the show
The final match saw a stellar opening partnership of 84 runs between Connor Esterhuizen and Jordan Hermann.
A fifth-wicket stand of 47 runs between Rubin Hermann (27) and Dewald Brevis (32) also contributed to the team's total.
Duan Jansen also scored a 14-ball 23*.
Zimbabwe's bowlers struggled against South Africa's batting attack, with Blessing Muzarabani being economical but failing to take a wicket for the first time in the series.
Game breakdown
Zimbabwe falter despite Evans's heroics
Zimbabwe's chase fell apart early, with the team reduced to 25 for 4 in the fourth over.
A ninth-wicket partnership of 52 runs between Brad Evans and Kundai Matigumu was too little too late for Zimbabwe.
Evans scored a career-best unbeaten 56 but it wasn't enough against South Africa's strong bowling attack.
The Proteas were backed by Eathan Bosch, Duan Jansen, Bjorn Fortuin, Prenelan Subrayen, and Kwena Maphaka who all took wickets during this final match.
Hermann
SA's Jordan Hermann slams 53 versus Zimabwe
Hermann's knock of 53 from 29 balls was laced with 8 fours and a six.
Playing his 6th T20I for South Africa, Hermann smashed his maiden fifty.
Before this, his scores in this series read 7, 20, 28 and 1*.
Hermann now owns 109 runs at 27.25.
Overall in 20 overs cricket, he has amassed 1,944 runs from 79 matches at 31.86.
He recorded his 11th fifty (100s: 2), as per Cricinfo.
Information
Brevis scores a solid 32; bags PoS award
Brevis scored 32 runs versus Zimbabwe, slamming 2 fours and 2 sixes. He won the Player of the Series award for his efforts worth 75, 75*, 41, 3 and 32. Brevis now owns 923 runs from 35 matches for South Africa at 30.76.
Evans
Evans shines with ball and bat for Zimbabwe
With the ball, Evans was the best Zimbabwe bowler. He bowled 4 overs and claimed 2/36.
With this effort, he now has 63 wickets from 42 matches at 19.20.
Overall in 20 overs cricket, Evans has bagged 102 wickets.
With the bat, Evans smashed an unbeaten 56 off 31 balls.
He now owns 317 runs from 42 matches (27 innings) for ZIM at 15.85.
He struck his maiden fifty.
3-fers
Duan Jansen and skipper Bjorn Fortuin bag 3-fers for SA
Jansen and skipper Bjorn Fortuin were the pick of the bowlers for South Africa.
Jansen managed 3/38 from 3 overs whereas Fortuin was impressive with 3/24 from 4 overs.
In 4 matches for the Proteas, Jansen has bagged 11 wickets at 12.36.
On the other hand, Fortuin now owns 33 wickets from 32 matches at 23.27.
As per Cricinfo, 8 of his wickets have come against Zimbabwe from three matches at 9.12.
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How did Sikandar Raza fare?
Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza managed 1/30 with the ball from his 4 overs. He has amassed 114 scalps at 25.10. With the bat, Raza managed 16 runs off 18 balls. From 144 matches for Zimbabwe (139 innings), Raza has scored 3,244 runs at 25.54.