In the T20I three-series final, the Proteas team secured a convincing victory over Zimbabwe, winning the title in Windhoek on Sunday. The match concluded with a one-sided win for Proteas.
Proteas scored 205/5 after Jordan Herman hit his first fifty in the T20I match, setting a difficult task for Zimbabwe. The game was played on a calm pitch in Windhoek.
Herman came into the top order after the tournament's leading run-scorer, Lhuandree Pretoria, was ruled out due to a groin injury. Furthermore, Proteas lost all-rounder Andile Simelane after the 23-year-old sustained a side strain.
After Proteas won the toss and elected to bat, Herman and Connor Esterhuizen built an ideal foundation, scoring 84 runs for the first wicket.
Herman displayed more aggressive play from the pair, reaching 53 runs in just 29 balls, including eight fours and one six. However, his momentum was broken by a brilliant catch taken by Ryan Bourlom, who dove towards him.
Devald Brevis helped Proteas maintain momentum in the middle of the innings, scoring 33 runs off 23 balls. Subsequently, Rubin Herman (27 off 16) and Duane Jansen (23* off 14) contributed towards the end of the match, ensuring the total exceeded 200 runs.
Zimbabwe started their chase disastrously as seven Proteas wickets fell early. Ben Curran was dismissed for a duck by Ethan Bosch, and shortly after, Brian Bennett (6) was also caught behind in the second over bowled by Jansen.
The situation worsened when Innocent Kaiya was caught at mid-off, followed by Wesley Madhevere being caught at deep square leg, leaving the Sikarand Raza's team in a difficult position at 25/4.
Brad Evans attempted a late comeback, scoring a sensational 56 not out off 31 balls, but captain Bjorn Fortuin proved to be another problem for the Zimbabwean middle order, taking impressive 3/24 to take the team out of title contention.
Match Results
The final score showed: Proteas — 205/5 (Herman 53, Esterhuizen 33, Evans 2/36); Zimbabwe — 157, all out (Evans 56*, Fortuin 3/24, Jansen 3/38).
Thus, Proteas won the match by a margin of 48 runs.