Duan Jansen celebrates a wicket with his Proteas teammates Prenelan Subrayen and Connor Esterhuizen in Windhoek on Tuesday.
Image: Namibia Cricket
The Proteas cruised to a comfortable 43-run victory over neighbours Zimbabwe by in their T20I clash in Windhoek on Tuesday.
The Chevrons could only muster 142 in response to the Proteas’ 184/6 after** Lhuan-dre Pretorius’ career-best 94 off 51 balls (12x4, 3x6)** formed the cornerstone of the innings. Dewald Brevis also just missed out on a third consecutive T20I half-century with a breezy 41 off 27 balls (2x4, 3x6).
Zimbabwe flew out of the blocks during their run-chase, with openers Ben Curran and Brian Bennett racing to 20 without loss within the first two overs.
However, Curran’s demise — caught at short fine-leg whilst attempting a sweep shot to Prenelan Subrayen — set in motion an almighty collapse. From thereon, it became a revolving door with every Zimbabwe batter attempting to hit themselves out of trouble, only to fall on their swords.
Captain Bjorn Fortuin (4/24) delivered just six balls upfront, but it was hugely impactful, with the skipper removing both Bennett (13) and Wessly Madhevere (0) in a double-wicket maiden over.
After failing to contend with Fortuin’s spin, the Zimbabwean batters had equally no answer to Duan Jansen’s pace and bounce. The twin brother of Proteas stalwart Marco has looked comfortable in international cricket since his T20I debut a couple of matches ago, and once again delivered an impressive bowling performance.
Jansen (3/21) tore the heart out of the Zimbabwean middle order with two strikes off consecutive balls when he sent Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani back to the pavilion.
Burl’s dismissal was particularly impressive after the lanky Jansen utilised his height advantage by sticking out an arm to claim a spectacular caught-and-bowled chance.
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza (41 off 27 balls) brought some respectability to his team’s total with a few lusty blows off Proteas leg-spinner Nqaba Peter, but he too was undone by the brilliance of his counterpart and Paarl Royals teammate Fortuin (4/24).
The Proteas made heavy weather of closing out the match with some sloppy catching towards the end, but the hard graft had already been done upfront to secure the victory.
SCORECARD
Proteas: 184/6 (Pretorius 94, Brevis 41, Madhevere 3/20, Evans 2/33)
Zimbabwe: 142 all out (Raza 41, Nyamhuri Fortuin 4/24, Jansen 3/21)
Proteas won by 43 runs
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