T20I Tri-Series: All-round South Africa beat Zimbabwe, register back-to-back wins
What's the story
South Africa defeated Zimbabwe by 43 runs in Match 4 of the ongoing Namibia T20I Tri-Series. Lhuan-dre Pretorius was the star performer for South Africa, scoring a blistering 94 runs in Windhoek. His innings was instrumental in setting up a challenging total of 185/7 for South Africa. Zimbabwe faltered in the run chase as skipper Bjorn Fortuin's four-fer restricted them to 142/10 in 17.4 overs. Here are the key stats.
Match performance
Pretorius leads South Africa's charge with blistering half-century
Pretorius's innings was instrumental in South Africa posting a total of 185/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
He shared major partnerships with Jordan Hermann (28) and Dewald Brevis (41), adding 68 runs for the opening wicket and an impressive 86 runs for the second.
Despite Zimbabwe's late fightback, which saw them take six wickets in the last 4.5 overs, they couldn't restrict South Africa to a manageable total.
Bowling brilliance
Raza's efforts go in vain
Zimbabwe started their innings on a positive note with Ben Curran and Brian Bennett hitting early boundaries.
However, things went downhill after Curran's dismissal.
Bjorn Fortuin struck twice in three balls to remove Bennett and Wesley Madhevere, reducing Zimbabwe to 43/4 by the end of the powerplay.
Wickets continue to fall as Zimbabwe were further reduced to 66/8.
Sikandar Raza (45) tried to keep Zimbabwe in the game with some aggressive shots.
However, his efforts went in vain as Zimbabwe (142/10) fell way short.
Pretorius
Pretorius slams his second T20I half-century
Smashing a fine 94 off 51 balls, Pretorius single-handedly propelled the Proteas. His knock had 12 fours and 3 sixes.
In 16 T20Is, the Proteas batter has racked up 326 runs at an average of 20.37, as per Cricinfo.
This was his second half-century in T20Is, and both of them have come away from home.
Pretorius has a strike rate of 141.73 in the format.
Brevis
Brevis scores a vital 41
Brevis, who made 75 in each of his first two outings in this tourney, scored 41 off 27 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes.
This knock took his T20I tally to 888 runs at 31.71.
His tally includes three fifties, one ton, and a strike rate of 165.67.
Opener Jordan Hermann (28 off 25) was the other Proteas batter to enter double digits in this game.
Zimbabwe bowlers
Madhavere bowled well for Zimbabwe
Madhavere was the pick of Zimbabwe bowlers, finishing with a career-best 3/20 in 3 overs.
His maiden three-fer took the all-rounder to 19 T20I scalps at 29.68.
Brad Evans struck twice, taking his T20I tally to 59 wickets at 19.40 (ER: 8.48).
With figures of 1/30 from four overs, Newman Nyamhuri was Zimbabwe's only other wicket-taker.
Raza
A fine hand from Raza
Albeit in a losing cause, Raza batted well for his 45 off 33 balls (5 fours, 2 sixes).
Zimbabwe's highest run-getter in the format, the all-rounder has raced to 3,199 runs at an average of and a strike rate of 136.18 (100: 1, 50s: 17).
Nyamhuri, who batted at 10, was the only other Zimbabwe batter to score over 20 (27 off 25).
Fortuin
Fortuin scripts records with four-fer
Fortuin bowled an exceptional spell, finishing with 4/24 in 3.4 overs (1 maiden).
He became the first South African to claim a T20I four-fer as a captain.
Fortuin also became just the third Proteas left-arm spinner to claim four or more wickets in a T20I, having joined George Linde (once) and Tabraiz Shamsi (4 times).
This spell took Fortuin to 30 wickets across as many T20Is at 23.86 (ER: 7.81).
His T20 tally now reads 186 wickets at an economy of just over 6.6 (4W: 5).
Jansen
Another three-fer for Jansen
Duan Jansen, the twin brother of established Proteas pacer Marco Jansen, finished with 3/21 from four overs.
The left-arm pacer, who made his international debut at the start of this tourney, has so far scalped eight wickets across three T20Is at an economy of 8.16.
Jansen now has 72 wickets from 60 T20 games at an average of around 23. His economy is nearly 8.5 (4W: 3).
Meanwhile, Prenelan Subrayen (1/22) and Nqabayomzi Peter (1/29) were SA's other wicket-takers in the game.
Information
Successive wins for South Africa
South Africa, who lost the tournament opener to Namibia, are now back on track with back-to-back wins - both versus Zimbabwe. They now lead the team standings with a net run rate of +1.386. With just one win across three games, Zimbabwe are reeling at the third place (NRR: -1.691).