Hermann, van der Dussen fifties knock Zimbabwe out

South Africa eliminated Zimbabwe from tri-series final contention with a seven-wicket win. Bowling first, a few expensive overs in the middle were bookended by strong powerplay and death bowling by South Africa. A crafty 61 from Brian Bennett and 36 from Ryan Burl saw Zimbabwe muster together 144/6 before South Africa, led by Rubin Hermann's career-best 63 and skipper Rassie van der Dussen's unbeaten 52, chased it down in 17.2 overs.

Opting to bowl first in overcast conditions, South Africa made three changes to field the same XI that faced Zimbabwe in the first game of the tri-series. Zimbabwe, meanwhile, had to contend without their pace-bowling spearhead Blessing Muzarabani who was unavailable due to a bereavement in his family.

The South African bowlers found swing and seam movement with the new ball and it wasn't until the third over that Wessly Madhevere managed to score Zimbabwe's first boundary by chipping a full delivery from Ngidi over mid-on. The second boundary came off the very next delivery when Madhevere pulled a shortish delivery to the deep backward square leg ropes.

In his endeavour to maximise the powerplay though, Madhevere perished in the very next over. Backing away to a full delivery from Bosch, Madhevere's attempt to clear mid-off was unsuccessful. Madande struck an impressive six - charging a bouncer from Burger before heaving it over deep mid-wicket. However, he became Bosch's second victim after cleaving a good length delivery straight up. Zimbabwe could only muster a score of 29/2 in the powerplay - the lowest of the tri-series thus far.

Sikandar Raza, after surviving a close run-out chance, struck Nqabayomzi Peter's first delivery for four over extra cover. Bennett, who started slowly, struck his first boundary in the next over bowled by Linde. But the little momentum Zimbabwe were gathering was smothered again as Raza holed out to deep backward square leg attempting a hard sweep in the following over.

There was a staggering change of pace from Zimbabwe post the drinks break however. While their first 50 runs came off 53 deliveries, the next 50 took just 28. Bennett led Zimbabwe's charge before Burl joined in. The 11th, 12th and 13th over went for 13, 12 and 13 respectively. Bennett subsequently brought up his fourth T20I fifty with a six over long-off in the 15th over.

With the stage set at 113/3 after 15 overs, the strong finish that Zimbabwe would've envisioned didn't materialize. Ngidi, after being carted for a couple of boundaries, castled Bennett with a slower delivery to break a 78-run stand. The next two overs saw Musekiwa hole out for a golden duck and Munyonga get sold down the river. South Africa's death bowling was excellent - so much so that Zimbabwe managed just one boundary in the last four overs before finishing with 144/6.

In response, Lhuan-dre Pretorius got underway with a boundary but perished to a short delivery from Maposa in the following over. Skipper van der Dussen kept the scoreboard ticking with a couple of boundaries in the third over before Maposa returned to dismiss a scratchy Hendricks in the fourth. Hermann survived a close run-out chance in the sixth over and South Africa ended the powerplay on 33/2 - only marginally better than what Zimbabwe managed off theirs.

Masakadza then bowled a couple of tidy overs to keep the pressure up but Raza failed to sustain it at the other end. The 10th over, bowled by the Zimbabwean captain, cost his side 17 runs with Hermann striking a boundary and a six. That left South Africa on 71/2 at the halfway stage - breathing down the neck of the asking run-rate.

Hermann continued his assault and struck Masakadza for a six and a four off successive deliveries in the 11th over before bringing up his maiden T20I fifty with a flat six back over Maposa's head in the 12th. Meanwhile, van der Dussen remained busy at the other end and South Africa's hundred came in the following over.

With the game slipping away, Raza turned to Ngarava and while it had no immediate impact on South Africa's rate of scoring, Ngarava did uproot Hermann's off-stump just after getting struck for a cracking six. There wasn't any further drama as van der Dussen, who also notched up fifty, and Brevis got the job done for South Africa in the 18th over.