Jordan Hermann leads SA to 205 in Tri-Series final

Jordan Hermann struck his first T20I half-century to lead South Africa to a decent 205 for five wickets in the Tri-Series final against Zimbabwe at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek on Sunday.

The Proteas, who chose to bat first after winning the toss, were given a strong start by Hermann and Connor Esterhuizen who added 67 in the power play and 84 in 47 balls before Esterhuizen, who struck three fours and two sixes in his 23-ball 32, skied paceman Newman Nyamhuri to Ben Curran at cover. Normal opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius was not available after suffering a groin strain.

Hermann continued on his merry way, exploiting some erratic bowling with the Zimbabwean bowlers often pitching way too short, before he perished in the deep, well caught by a diving Ryan Burl at long-on. His 53 came off 29 balls and included eight fours and a six.

The uneven pitch made scoring more difficult as the ball lost its hardness and Dewald Brevis, normally very destructive, struggled for timing although he did crunch two huge sixes and two fours in his 32 in 23 balls before being caught in the deep.

Tony de Zorzi (17 in 11 balls) was one of Zimbabwe skipper’s two victims, after he was stumped after being stranded well down the track to one that turned sharply. Rubin Hermann struck a bright 27 and Duan Jansen a quickfire 23 in 14 balls to take South Africa past the 200 mark.

Blessing Muzarabani was Zimbabwe’s best bowler, going for only 25 in his four overs, while Nyamhuri and Evans took a couple of wickets apiece though the former was expensive, leaking 51 runs in his spell.

SOUTH AFRICA: Connor Esterhuizen (wk), Jordan Hermann, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Rubin Hermann, Eathan Bosch, Duan Jansen, Bjorn Fortuin (capt.), Prenelan Subrayen, Nqobani Mokoena, Kwena Maphaka

ZIMBABWE: Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Innocent Kaia, Sikandar Raza (capt.), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Kundai Matigimu, Blessing Muzarabani