Match News and Current Form
Zimbabwe are going to need to make some drastic improvement to their batting to have any chance of making the final after posting a measly score of 120 in Friday’s loss to New Zealand, despite playing attacking shots against a reported 27% of deliveries faced. Six hitting has long been an issue for this side against quality bowling, and they have produced only four in total during this series whilst only Wessly Madhevere (four) and Ryan Burl (two) were able to strike multiple fours in their most recent game.
It’s a major concern that they won’t wish to take into their 2026 T20 World Cup qualifier later this year, where they’ll be fighting with Namibia and Uganda (among others) for two places at the showpiece event, so perhaps it’s time to throw a bit of caution to the wind and risk a big losing margin in pursuit of glory.
That’s always easier said than done when playing South Africa, who across their two matches have shown to have many weapons in their arsenal despite losing to New Zealand by 21 runs in game two of the tri-series. They strangled Zimbabwe with spin in the opening match with George Linde (3-10) and Nqaba Peter (1-22) combining to concede just 32 runs from six overs.
Spin didn’t work quite as well against New Zealand but they should back it again here, particularly as Linde’s score of 30 against the Blackcaps shows precisely why he was picked to replace the absent Keshav Maharaj as a bowling all-rounder. They showed great attacking intent against New Zealand but struggled against the short ball and shouldn’t have as much trouble here.
Head-to-Head History
The Proteas now have an unbeaten 6-0 record in completed T20Is against Zimbabwe and would have thrashed them at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia had the Hobart rain held off for another ten minutes.
Many of the gulfs have been unsurprisingly wide, including four successful run chases with at least five wickets to spare.
Hot Stats and Streaks
• Seven of Zimbabwe’s last eight opening partnerships were worth fewer than 20 runs
• Zimbabwe took their first wicket for less than ten runs in six of their last seven games
• In the last 11 Harare T20Is, any first innings score of 153+ was a winning one and anything under 153 was not
• South Africa hit the most or equal most sixes in five of their last six matches
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Brian Bennett has been the only Zimbabwean to get a start in both of their games so far with contributions of 21 and 30 runs. That has been the story of his career so far, during which he gets to 25 in almost half of his innings but to a score of 35+ only six times from 35 starts. Dewald Brevis posted two consistent scores - 41 and 35 - but his 76 runs have come from just 35 balls thanks to eight sixes.
There are no known new absences for either side, though the quick backup could demand some rotation.
Betting Analysis
Knowing what devastating form he has been in throughout the series so far, backing Dewald Brevis to score 30+ runs against a hapless bowling attack could pay off.