Pretorius leads South Africa to third win in Tri-Series
South Africa secured a comfortable 43-run victory over Zimbabwe in the fourth match of the Namibia T20I Tri-Series at the Namibia Cricket Ground on Tuesday, with opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius starring with a career-best 94 runs.
Electing to bat first, South Africa posted 185/7 in their 20 overs. Pretorius anchored the innings with a 51-ball knock that included 12 fours and three sixes, narrowly missing out on a maiden T20I century before being bowled in the penultimate over. He received valuable support from Dewald Brevis, who scored 41 off 27 balls, with the pair adding 86 runs for the second-wicket partnership.
In reply, Zimbabwe struggled to build momentum and were bowled out for 142 in 17.4 overs. Captain Sikandar Raza top-scored with 45 off 33 balls, while Newman Nyamhuri contributed 27. Bjorn Fortuin was the pick of the South African bowlers with figures of 4/24 in 3.4 overs, while Duan Jansen took 3/21 as the pair shared seven wickets between them.
Pretorius was named Player of the Match for his match-winning innings. Speaking after the match, he said he was not disappointed at missing a century, stressing that the team's victory mattered more than individual milestones.
"Yeah, that's fine. I'm just glad we got over the line. Milestones will come and go, and yeah, it wasn't meant to be today," he said, adding that the team had targeted 200 after 14 overs and that he was pleased to contribute to a winning performance.
Tournament standings
Following the result, South Africa have two wins from three games, while Namibia have one win from two and Zimbabwe one from three. Zimbabwe take on Namibia on Thursday, followed by Namibia against South Africa in the final round-robin match. The two teams with the most points after four matches each will contest Sunday's final.