New Delhi, March 1 – Dewald Brevis scored 42, leading South Africa to victory over Sikandar Raza's stunning performance, winning by five wickets in their 2026 Men's T20 World Cup Super Eights match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 154, South Africa was initially rocked by Raza, who dismissed Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram within the first three overs. Ryan Rickelton briefly countered with three sixes before being dismissed, leaving South Africa in a precarious position at 43/3.
Brevis then took control, smashing two fours and four sixes in his 18-ball 42, shifting the momentum back in South Africa's favour. David Miller joined in with a series of boundaries, but Zimbabwe continued to strike back, with Blessing Muzarabani and Raza removing both batsmen to keep the match competitive.
Raza finished with figures of 3-29, adding to his impressive 73 with the bat, but South Africa's strong batting lineup proved decisive. George Linde (30 not out) and Tristan Stubbs (21 not out) guided South Africa to victory with 13 balls remaining. This result means that South Africa enters their semi-final against New Zealand in Kolkata as the only unbeaten team in the tournament.
South Africa's chase began with a significant setback when Quinton de Kock was dismissed by a slower ball from Raza, which found grip and hit his gloves, leading to a catch by Tadiwanashe Marumani. Raza struck again in his second over when his carrom ball kept low and went through Aiden Markram's bat for just four runs.
Ryan Rickelton then launched a counter-attack by hitting Raza for six down the ground, before taking a blow to the helmet from Brad Evans. Rickelton then managed to clear the boundary ropes three times for maximums, before attempting a shot off Evans and Ryan Burl made a superb acrobatic catch at deep midwicket.
Brevis, who began with a backfoot punch off Raza for four, lit up the stadium with his two trademark no-look sixes off Graeme Cremer and driving amazingly on the up off Blessing Muzarabani for four. Miller joined in with back-to-back sixes and a four off Wellington Masakadza, before he and Brevis took a four and six off Muzarabani to bring up the fifty of the partnership quickly.
Zimbabwe, however, continued to fight back – Muzarabani dismissed Miller, who was caught at short third man. In his final over, Raza produced another breakthrough by deceiving Brevis into miscuing a round-arm delivery high to long-on, where Burl completed a sharp catch, as the Castle Corner fans, seated in the east corner of the Gautam Gambhir stand, cheered enthusiastically.
With 51 runs needed off 54 balls, George Linde hit Cremer for six, before he and Tristan Stubbs were content in rotating the strike to get closer to the target, especially with no significant pressure on their run rate. Linde feasted on down leg deliveries from Brian Bennett and Ryan Burl to hit two boundaries through backward square leg, as he and Stubbs guided South Africa to victory, continuing their unbeaten run in the tournament.
Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 153/7 in 20 overs (Sikandar Raza 73, Clive Madande 26 not out; Kwena Maphaka 2-21, Corbin Bosch 2-40) lost to South Africa 154/5 in 17.5 overs (Dewald Brevis 42, Ryan Rickelton 31; Sikandar Raza 3-29, Brad Evans 1-22) by five wickets
