Captain Hamilton Masakadza is hopeful a change in format will empower Zimbabwe against South Africa this week.

The Proteas whitewashed the Zimbabweans 3-0 in the preceding ODI series. The African neighbours will meet for three T20Is this month.

Zimbabwe have never beaten the South Africans in the shortest format of the international game – and are currently six positions behind in the ICC’s T20I rankings. Zimbabwe, indeed, are 12th – and the Proteas sixth.

‘The shorter the game, the closer the teams come together, so with T20 cricket it’s a little bit different because all you need is one guy coming off on the day and that can win you the game,’ said Masakadza.

‘So I am telling the guys to keep their heads up, keep looking forward and continue being brave and being positive and always looking for that one performance.

‘We have done a lot of good things in the ODIs. I think the main thing is just to make sure we do it for a little bit longer, we started to look a little better with the bat in the last game so we just look to build on that. Obviously, go a that little longer and obviously do the right things a little bit longer with the ball as well.’

East London will host the first T20I on Wednesday. The second and third will be played in Potchefstroom and Benoni, respectively.

Image: Gallo